calculator is illegal?

[Ixantheus]

Aww man, I've been trying for hours to get these. I was around the boards when they were almost done, and was so eager to just get it through with... However, I needed sleep, so of course, I missed it :////

 

This, really bites, somehow all of the tricks and stuff people give me never work when I've gone all the way through them, so I havent even solved a single 3 mod!

 

*sigh*

 

At leat TNT is trying to get as many people out of the points race as early as possible, something tells me the rewards on this one are gonna be intense...

 

Ps. This is probably the wrong place to say this, but if anyone has a link? I sure as heck am tired of staring at this green and black screen, but I really want to go through with this. I managed to do Altador without a star guide and such, but this is just too much for me

[knp996]

okay you guys, i REALLY NEED some help. i dont wanna get left behind.

i have been trying since part two first came out (as in NON-STOP cause ive been recovering in the hospital from a few surgeries for awhile and have nothing else to do here) to decode all the messages. i saw the link but didnt use it cause i hadnt gotten to the modifer three ones before it got deleted. ive done all modifier 1+ 2s from "guess and check" and after two days got the first modifier three from a guess and check, but i really need some help or im gonna get left behind!! how are you guys doing this?!?!?!

 

message me here or find me on neopets cause i see everybody else around me has finished and im here getting stuck and falling behind.

 

help out a friend?

 

(and yes, i KNOW everyone's is different)

[Xepha]

Believe me, if there were a way, a strategy, a formula or anything that could help people, we would have put it up and some people would be offering their help to solve the puzzles. However, it is not the case. The best is to use a chart to narrow down your possibilities and to try all possible combos from that chart as I explained for level 2 modifiers. There is nothing I see that can be done to solve them easily.

[JubJubMan]

Longest post ever!

 

ahahaha i sorta did my own strategy, but it failed for some of them ahaha. But finished part three now :)

[CheeseStorm]

Aww man, I've been trying for hours to get these. I was around the boards when they were almost done, and was so eager to just get it through with... However, I needed sleep, so of course, I missed it :////

 

This, really bites, somehow all of the tricks and stuff people give me never work when I've gone all the way through them, so I havent even solved a single 3 mod!

 

*sigh*

 

At leat TNT is trying to get as many people out of the points race as early as possible, something tells me the rewards on this one are gonna be intense...

 

Ps. This is probably the wrong place to say this, but if anyone has a link? I sure as heck am tired of staring at this green and black screen, but I really want to go through with this. I managed to do Altador without a star guide and such, but this is just too much for me

 

I agree. TNT obviously knows that some people just use online sites, such as this, to just get by in the puzzles and such. Seems they want people to actually try for themselves, lol. It would make sense for the prize to therefore be better, or how you so wonderfully put it, "intense".

[Furry Curry Level 3]

I think this plot got awful intense, awful fast, they could have waited for this kind of thinking till like the 10th step and I would have been happy. I don't want to have to quit this early in the game but this is hard.

[neeka]

on the second part, I got frozen for using the 3-mod thing, that tells you the answer.

I don't think it's frozen though, because I can still look my username up and everything, and it doesn't say it's frozen, but I think it got hacked, because I put my password in, and it says wrong password, and I try putting my email in the the forgot thing, and it says the email isn't valid. so either hacked or suspended, or something like that,

but it's frustrating, I wanna do the third part!

[crxsnochic]

So far I've heard of a few people with frozen/scammed accounts and it's all happened after using a calculator. Do any of these calculators require password info? If they do... don't use it, I know completing this plot isn't worth risking my account! If you've used a calculator, I would recommend changing your password immediately, as I've heard that one of the calcs wanted password info.

 

And, as to solving part 2: I just finished it today and I used the best calculator... my noggin (OK, maybe not the best cause it was definately slow and made mistakes at times) . Though I do have a headache now! Here was my strategy:

 

 

I had made a chart out during the 2 mod part much like the one recommended on TDN. I did the same thing for the 3 mod as well (and as long as it's not considered cheating by TNT, I don't mind sharing it). There is another chart I saw listed on a petpage, I think I saw it referenced on one of the forum posts, but if anyone needs it, I can probably find the link, but instead of being a spread sheet, it was all listed in a single row down.

 

once you start plotting the chart out, you'll notice patterns pretty quick, so you really don't have to manually put in every combo to find the answer. My chart was ordered as such: (I used L cause the one symbol looked like a lollipop to me... the rest you can probably figure out!)

..........X V C 8 L S O

XXX

XXV

XXC

XX8

XXL

XXS

XXO

 

If you just plot these out, you'll notice a pattern develop, which helps with creating the complete chart.

 

Though the chart will save you considerable time, it will still take a looonnnggg time, it just cuts down on how combos you try out of the 24360 possible combos for each puzzle.

 

The next part was plugging in those mods. I started by putting mod 1 into the top mod slot, I would then take the first mod that had X as its first character and plug it into the second mod box. Then I would use my chart to figure out what character I would need in the third mod box to get my target. I would use this same method to figure out what I need for the second character as well.

 

For example:

 

You have CV...... as a starter and XO...... as your target. your mods are:

1. LS......

2. C8......

3. XV.....

4. VC.....

5. OX.....

 

So I put in as my first two mods

 

LS

XV

 

and I looked on my key and I saw that CLXV gives me X and VSVC gives me O, so I would try mod 4 (VC.....) to see if it would work.

 

I then would switch out my third mod box with any mods that has VC as the first two digits.

 

Once I tried all working combos, i would then switch out mod box 2 with the next mod on the list that started with X and repeat this process. Once I finished all the X's as mod box two, I would then use all the mods that started with V as mod box two, then C,8,L,S,O. you can do that in any order, I just picked that order cause that is the order my chart was in.

 

Once I cycled through all the letters for mod box 2, I would then change my first mod box from mod 1 to mod 2. and repeat.

 

I know this sound lengthy (and it is) but there are tricks to make it go faster:

 

Trick one: Let's say you've got a mod in for your second mod box that is XO...., for example. If there are no matches for the third mod that would get you to your target, then you can rule out any mods that start with XO to be able to work with the mod you have chosen as your first mod box.

 

Trick two: Once you've tried all possible combos with mod 1 as your first mod box... you've cancelled that mod out as being an option. So, lets say mod 1. is VS....., if it didn't work in the first mod box after trying all your combos, then mod 1 will never work... even if you're using a combo that calls for VS as your starting digits. Therefore, you essentially rule out mods as you go. Worse case scenario is that Mods 28, 29, and 30 are your answer (or a mod 28 answer as I call it)... you would have done a lot of combos. But if mod 1 is part of your answer, you only end up doing a few combos. I had one puzzle with mod1 answer, 2 puzzles with mod 4 answer, so those went quick. But I had one puzzle with a mod 17 answer and that took over an hour!

 

Trick two: Use more than two columns. The more columns you decipher out the fewer mod options you will have that fit... therefore the fewer moves you make. this does require more thinking and charting... but I think it saves time in the long run.

 

Trick three: When cycling through your second mod box, make sure you use a system you can keep track of. Thats why I did all the X's, then all the V's, etc. Theoretically, you could just start with mod 2, then use mod 3, etc. for second mod box, but I found that if I organized it by the first letter, I would always know right away what the first letter of my third mod box should be, thus I would only have to chart out my second (and third if I wanted) column.

 

Trick four: When reading this, I tried to keep my references consistent so... "first mod box" means the top box that mods can be moved into, "mod 1" means the mod numbered 1 out of the selection of 30 mods.

 

Hope this helps anyone who is stuck

 

If TDN would like to repost this guide anywhere on this site... TDN is more than welcome to. I can also provide my spread sheet chart for TDN to post. Just let me know.

 

Also, if anything seems unclear in this... let me know and I'll try to explain. I hope I made it as clear as possible. It is a very hard puzzle, and thus very hard to explain!

 

Good luck to everyone in completing step 2... and yes, step 3 is MUCH easier... so once you've finished decoding you can breathe a sigh of relief!

[Xepha]

Thanks for the tips Crxsnochic! :)

I might add some of them to our guide later tonight or early tomorrow.

 

 

*Runs off to finish other guide she is working on*

[crxsnochic]

I added this as it's own thread so people could find it easier. let me know if you would like my spread sheet for posting. Glad to help in any way I can, especially to help TDN and its users as this site is awesome. I love code puzzles and do them all the time... but this one is very time consuming, even with all my puzzle experience!

[neeka]

So far I've heard of a few people with frozen/scammed accounts and it's all happened after using a calculator. Do any of these calculators require password info? If they do... don't use it, I know completing this plot isn't worth risking my account! If you've used a calculator, I would recommend changing your password immediately, as I've heard that one of the calcs wanted password info.

 

And, as to solving part 2: I just finished it today and I used the best calculator... my noggin (OK, maybe not the best cause it was definately slow and made mistakes at times) . Though I do have a headache now! Here was my strategy:

 

 

I had made a chart out during the 2 mod part much like the one recommended on TDN. I did the same thing for the 3 mod as well (and as long as it's not considered cheating by TNT, I don't mind sharing it). There is another chart I saw listed on a petpage, I think I saw it referenced on one of the forum posts, but if anyone needs it, I can probably find the link, but instead of being a spread sheet, it was all listed in a single row down.

 

once you start plotting the chart out, you'll notice patterns pretty quick, so you really don't have to manually put in every combo to find the answer. My chart was ordered as such: (I used L cause the one symbol looked like a lollipop to me... the rest you can probably figure out!)

..........X V C 8 L S O

XXX

XXV

XXC

XX8

XXL

XXS

XXO

 

If you just plot these out, you'll notice a pattern develop, which helps with creating the complete chart.

 

Though the chart will save you considerable time, it will still take a looonnnggg time, it just cuts down on how combos you try out of the 24360 possible combos for each puzzle.

 

The next part was plugging in those mods. I started by putting mod 1 into the top mod slot, I would then take the first mod that had X as its first character and plug it into the second mod box. Then I would use my chart to figure out what character I would need in the third mod box to get my target. I would use this same method to figure out what I need for the second character as well.

 

For example:

 

You have CV...... as a starter and XO...... as your target. your mods are:

1. LS......

2. C8......

3. XV.....

4. VC.....

5. OX.....

 

So I put in as my first two mods

 

LS

XV

 

and I looked on my key and I saw that CLXV gives me X and VSVC gives me O, so I would try mod 4 (VC.....) to see if it would work.

 

I then would switch out my third mod box with any mods that has VC as the first two digits.

 

Once I tried all working combos, i would then switch out mod box 2 with the next mod on the list that started with X and repeat this process. Once I finished all the X's as mod box two, I would then use all the mods that started with V as mod box two, then C,8,L,S,O. you can do that in any order, I just picked that order cause that is the order my chart was in.

 

Once I cycled through all the letters for mod box 2, I would then change my first mod box from mod 1 to mod 2. and repeat.

 

I know this sound lengthy (and it is) but there are tricks to make it go faster:

 

Trick one: Let's say you've got a mod in for your second mod box that is XO...., for example. If there are no matches for the third mod that would get you to your target, then you can rule out any mods that start with XO to be able to work with the mod you have chosen as your first mod box.

 

Trick two: Once you've tried all possible combos with mod 1 as your first mod box... you've cancelled that mod out as being an option. So, lets say mod 1. is VS....., if it didn't work in the first mod box after trying all your combos, then mod 1 will never work... even if you're using a combo that calls for VS as your starting digits. Therefore, you essentially rule out mods as you go. Worse case scenario is that Mods 28, 29, and 30 are your answer (or a mod 28 answer as I call it)... you would have done a lot of combos. But if mod 1 is part of your answer, you only end up doing a few combos. I had one puzzle with mod1 answer, 2 puzzles with mod 4 answer, so those went quick. But I had one puzzle with a mod 17 answer and that took over an hour!

 

Trick two: Use more than two columns. The more columns you decipher out the fewer mod options you will have that fit... therefore the fewer moves you make. this does require more thinking and charting... but I think it saves time in the long run.

 

Trick three: When cycling through your second mod box, make sure you use a system you can keep track of. Thats why I did all the X's, then all the V's, etc. Theoretically, you could just start with mod 2, then use mod 3, etc. for second mod box, but I found that if I organized it by the first letter, I would always know right away what the first letter of my third mod box should be, thus I would only have to chart out my second (and third if I wanted) column.

 

Trick four: When reading this, I tried to keep my references consistent so... "first mod box" means the top box that mods can be moved into, "mod 1" means the mod numbered 1 out of the selection of 30 mods.

 

Hope this helps anyone who is stuck

 

If TDN would like to repost this guide anywhere on this site... TDN is more than welcome to. I can also provide my spread sheet chart for TDN to post. Just let me know.

 

Also, if anything seems unclear in this... let me know and I'll try to explain. I hope I made it as clear as possible. It is a very hard puzzle, and thus very hard to explain!

 

Good luck to everyone in completing step 2... and yes, step 3 is MUCH easier... so once you've finished decoding you can breathe a sigh of relief!

 

 

 

it's awful weird, because for the calculator thing, you didn't have to put in your password or anything, just like a code into this url, and I guess TNT could track that you were you using that code on another website.

[pachirisu]

does any1 know the equation for the 3 mods like the calcultor but simpler thanks

[BlackRuby]

does any1 know the equation for the 3 mods like the calcultor but simpler thanks

 

 

If you are looking for a Automatic Way to solve them, no there is none and you should not be asking for one either.

 

if you are looking for help then see this page TDN Guide

also check out this Topic it has to good ways to help you solve them

[pachirisu]

no the equation to do it on a real calculator

[antiaircraft]

I don't think there's a simple equation to solve them, but the general way to do it is to come up with your own consistent algorithm to decode the messages. :)

[BlackRuby]

all though some people have stated that they worked it out as a numeric math problem, its easier to not think of it as a numeric problem, it is simply the case of when you take 2, 3, or 4 symbols and put them together they make another symbol

 

 

even if you were to do it as a numeric problem, it could not be solved using conventional math, as you are dealing with fewer than 10 numbers so you would have to think in terms such as this, however this is only an example 3+3=0 4+2=0 4+5=1 1+1=2

 

that doesnt make much sense, but you see that a calculator would not handle these types of problems, you would still be doing it on paper and at that point you still have to cross reference with a chart, so your better off just going with the chart and symbols to start with...

 

i have taken Crxsnochic's 3-Mod Reference chart and made a chart that can quickly narrow down the possibilities, it still need to pass TDN's approval before it can be distributed but once its looked over i dont think it will be a problem... to check up on its progress please vist the post entitled Crxsnochic's Part 2 Guide

[Bluemopitz]

Part 2 is driving me insane! For the three mod codes, there are about 24,000 combinations to try. Even with the handy charts people have made, I'll still have to test THOUSANDS of combinations. Who has time for this kind of thing? I like puzzles that require thinking, but this is just tedious repetition. I wish there was a calculator that was allowed... :S

[BlackRuby]

Part 2 is driving me insane! For the three mod codes, there are about 24,000 combinations to try. Even with the handy charts people have made, I'll still have to test THOUSANDS of combinations. Who has time for this kind of thing? I like puzzles that require thinking, but this is just tedious repetition. I wish there was a calculator that was allowed... :S

 

yes many of us agree, i have a file that is being reviewed right now that may help greatly, it wont solve them but it will help you to narrow down the choices so your not trying 24k or even 1k, if you use it right you should only have to try perhaps at the most about 20 to 30 combos....

 

you will know when they decide to release it... but belive me I have pondered over this for a while to help everyone gain an advantage without passing the line of cheating and as Crxsnochic said i'm starting to get tired of wracking my brain on this one... good luck

[Bluemopitz]

yes many of us agree, i have a file that is being reviewed right now that may help greatly, it wont solve them but it will help you to narrow down the choices so your not trying 24k or even 1k, if you use it right you should only have to try perhaps at the most about 20 to 30 combos....

 

you will know when they decide to release it... but belive me I have pondered over this for a while to help everyone gain an advantage without passing the line of cheating and as Crxsnochic said i'm starting to get tired of wracking my brain on this one... good luck

 

Thanks BlackRuby. I look forward to seeing your system and hopefully solving these things!

[mojoel]

Thanks you very much. I have spent hours trying the Lvl3 puzzles and haven't solved one yet. :S

[intelligent02]

To Bluemopitz, actually there are 'only' 4060 combinations to choose from, i think you calculated the permutations. With the guide of TDN, you could reduce the tries you have to about a few hundred. It is rather tiring but, i eventually succeed. You need to finish the ones without incomplete data fist before you can continue solving. Strive on!

[jemm]

Finding a method that works for you is key too. For me, I went off one of the charts, and just started at the first combination. Then I looked at how many of each character there was. Say it was X-Z-C. I counted how many of each there were, put the smallest first (say Z for an example), the next second ©, and the most last (X). I'd cycle through all the Xs, then move on to the next of Cs, cycle through all the Xs again, etc until the end of the list of Cs, then change the Z to the next on the list, and cycle through again. I found that it reduced the number of clicks I had to do, and was much easier to keep track of. It also made it so I didn't have to write anything down other than what combinations I had tried for that number. If I had to stop, I could either just finish the combination I was trying, or write down what combo I was on, and what # of the first and second characters I was on, because it was quick enough to just finish cycling through the third character to get to a good stopping point.

 

Also, when I was getting tired of it all, I'd do all the combos with 2 or 3 same characters first, like X-X-X or C-V-V. I knew those would take half the time of the others, and sometimes I was lucky and that combination was it.