1.02 Core Dump 1

Order

1.03

Status

::PROTO::

Location

Doctor When's laboratory

Type

Mandatory Puzzle

Plot Setup

Machine is malfunctioning, but no one knows why. Prof. Chronus knows that the time machine can do a core dump for diagnostic purposes. Unfortunately, when she checks it it has been corrupted (turned into a puzzle!) by the very same malfunction. So she needs the players to decode the core dump so she knows what to fix.

Props

Physical core boards, one for each team.

Plot Point to Convey

The "midi ether co-keypad ring(s)" is/are broken. Luckily, Prof. Chronus is an expert in such matters--she did her dissertation on the topic! Moreover, she's not surprised that Doctor When screwed it up; he never was any good at tachyon aether peppitry, going all the way back to high school.

Short Description

Computer diagnostic that reveals what broke. Physical board encouraged.

Detailed Description

Something that looks like a stream of data (error log?) from the time machine. Or...we might set up a gag that the time machine runs on pineapples and they have to examine pineapple cores. (Or maybe some other "core" homonym pun.)

Puzzle Answer

Solve phrase should refer to "midi ether co-keypad ring." Perhaps it could be "REPAIRBROKENRING" or "REPLACEMIDIRINGS". 12-letter options include "REPLACERINGS" and "COKEYPADRING".

Manager

Dwight

Response to Correct Answer

?

To Do

Gone through one round of playtesting. Solution phrase needs to be updated. We need to decide whether a second message should be encoded within for use in Part III.

Other Notes

Need at least one "help debug/fix the machine" puzzle/activity, but could have many more...and not all teams need to do all activities. Spongebob, Pineapple juice? This puzzle justifies getting the teams out of the building. (Erik's opinion: should be only one "core dump" puzzle. Optional puzzles fit better in Pep Ring sequence and Retrieve Letter sequence.)