Return of Dr Sloth [Split 5]

[Matrinka]

*snort* Well, I for once would love to find out how TNT will decide if someone has "cheated" or not. The only thing you needed to do was look at the number in the corner of the window (which was handily displayed for all the world to see), and then enter it on an external, totally Neopets-unrelated site. I highly doubt that "freezing everyone who has completed the plot step in under X minutes" is a viable solution.

I used that website and IMed the link to a friend who was stuck. I finished the 1-mod and 2-mod parts easily enough once I worked out how it was, but it's way too time-consuming to complete 10 3-mod puzzles with just pencil and paper. And those ginromous charts don't look appealing.
I don't see why using external sites would be forbidden now. Anyway, TNT has rarely made any sense. If I get frozen over this, it just means it's time to quit Neopets for good.

You've said it. I was seriously planning on going to Target to buy one of the new plushies. I've *never* purchased Neopets merch in the past... but the yellow Kacheek is adorable. I have one on my side account (a yellow kacheek) and would really love to have a tangible version... but not I'm going to wait and see if I get frozen. Giving cash to a company that denies me the enjoyment of playing on their site (and looking at the ads that generates some of their income) doesn't sound like a smart idea.

I just wonder how long it will be until the next step of the plot -- I think they're going to take a while for it to come out, hence the extremely difficult task given yesterday.

[cybertrini]

A quick note regarding the Modifier Calculator:

Yes, in the past, people have been permitted to use starmappers to find their constellations - and walkthroughs to complete the plot. However, there is no ground to legitimately claim it should be alright to use a calculator this time around. Neopets rules specifically state time and time again that using any external program to further your achievements on Neopets is disallowed. Its one of the most blatant rules on the site.

TNT may not be being consistent in their choice to disallow Modifier Calculators, but they have every right to freeze anybody who uses one (though, 99.999% chance they won't retroactively freeze those who have used it) regardless of whether or not they have a giant red message on the page.

The subject is moot now anyway, as Neopets have made it blatantly clear not to use a Calculator. As a result, nobody is to post a link to any online solvers anywhere in the forum. Doing so will result in punishment from the PPT staff and possibly punishment from Neopets as they have been known to read through these threads.

I totally agree with you, no one should post any such link here (which is why I wend back in the last thread and took it out of my posting. I see no point in sending anyone there now that we know that TNT is gonna take action against those who use the calculator.) But I still think that you need to change the text you have at the top of this thread to reflect that, rather than:

"Better guide hopefully coming soon, i'm guessing it won't be long until a program is written in which you can enter the key, the result and modifiers and it'll tell you which one to use."

[TDG]

A quick note regarding the Modifier Calculator:

Yes, in the past, people have been permitted to use starmappers to find their constellations - and walkthroughs to complete the plot. However, there is no ground to legitimately claim it should be alright to use a calculator this time around. Neopets rules specifically state time and time again that using any external program to further your achievements on Neopets is disallowed. Its one of the most blatant rules on the site.

TNT may not be being consistent in their choice to disallow Modifier Calculators, but they have every right to freeze anybody who uses one (though, 99.999% chance they won't retroactively freeze those who have used it) regardless of whether or not they have a giant red message on the page.

The subject is moot now anyway, as Neopets have made it blatantly clear not to use a Calculator. As a result, nobody is to post a link to any online solvers anywhere in the forum. Doing so will result in punishment from the PPT staff and possibly punishment from Neopets as they have been known to read through these threads.

I totally agree with you, no one should post any such link here (which is why I wend back in the last thread and took it out of my posting. I see no point in sending anyone there now that we know that TNT is gonna take action against those who use the calculator.) But I still think that you need to change the text you have at the top of this thread to reflect that, rather than:

"Better guide hopefully coming soon, i'm guessing it won't be long until a program is written in which you can enter the key, the result and modifiers and it'll tell you which one to use."

Sorry - didn't realise the text had been edited to that earlier. *fix*

[cybertrini]

Sorry - didn't realise the text had been edited to that earlier. *fix*

I'm still cracking up over step 4:

Cry because the next part is super hard

Truer words were never spoken!

[jade]

Is it just me, or is the charmander2058 petpage guide not matching up like it should? It's hard enough to solve the puzzles, but now the guide doesn't work. It was working last night, so did Neopets maybe change how things added up?

[butterflygirl]

Is it just me, or is the charmander2058 petpage guide not matching up like it should? It's hard enough to solve the puzzles, but now the guide doesn't work. It was working last night, so did Neopets maybe change how things added up?

It's working for me. From what I've heard, it doesn't work for messages with the circle/spaceship/saturn symbol.

[Lee]

Is it just me, or is the charmander2058 petpage guide not matching up like it should? It's hard enough to solve the puzzles, but now the guide doesn't work. It was working last night, so did Neopets maybe change how things added up?

It's tough. I looked at the generator, considered using it, then decided against it.

But for the three mods just keep plugging away. Like the two mods, it took a little guess out of it if you find the first symbol first.

Besides, working on the Neopets puzzle was way funner the science research. Shhhh, don't tell my teacher I wasted her class on a pet site.

[butterflygirl]

Besides, working on the Neopets puzzle was way funner the science research. Shhhh, don't tell my teacher I wasted her class on a pet site.

Been there, done that...lol


Yay! I just cracked another!

Edit: and a second!...lol The ones with the ufo are going to take longer....

[zorg]

Sorry - didn't realise the text had been edited to that earlier. *fix*

Sorry about that. Alot happened between me going to bed and waking up.

I was right though

[bgryph]

What confuses me is how TNT could possibly tell the difference between using the calculator program and writing your own. Or is using your own code to brute-force a solution against the rules, too? I can't imagine any possible grounds for claiming that would be cheating -- what's next, outlawing using pencil and paper?

I haven't tried it but I suspect that if you can code it would probably still be faster to write a little loop trying all combinations of the possible codes than it is to solve the problem manually.

[butterflygirl]

I haven't tried it but I suspect that if you can code it would probably still be faster to write a little loop trying all combinations of the possible codes than it is to solve the problem manually.

You'd still need to know what the combos equal to for that to work, if I'm right in my thinking?


Yay, a third one done today! But if I don't get up and move, I'm going to lose it...lol

[bgryph]

I haven't tried it but I suspect that if you can code it would probably still be faster to write a little loop trying all combinations of the possible codes than it is to solve the problem manually.

You'd still need to know what the combos equal to for that to work, if I'm right in my thinking?

Yes, you'd still need to know how to do the modular arithmetic and what symbols equal what numbers. But, all that appears to be known. (Someone here -- I can't recall who -- posted a link to the 7-symbol codes on this petpage here: http://www.neopets.com/~RudolfRocker

But I think there are still fewer combinations if you start with all the available codes and combining them then trying to find all the possible combinations of three codes that could lead from source to target and trying to figure out which of the possible codes are actually available.

Mind you, for all I know TNT deems writing your own code to be a cheat, too, although if so I think that's absurd. I can see how they might see using a code someone else wrote that way -- since then you're not doing the work yourself -- but writing your own code is just using a tool to solve the problem yourself. Like I said, they may as well outlaw calculators (the normal kind) and pencil and paper next.

[Machiito]

Can someone explain how to use those petpages? I've been staring at them for about an hour now and I don't understand what I'm supposed to do.

..generally helps when they post how to do this as well. x_x

[veritablegoddess]

Well, I made myself a textual chart for the last few codes (or... most of them). Since I did it in WordPad, I thought I'd share it here. It only has the modifications for the O-shaped key, but I just realized one of my codes doesn't even have that symbol in the key. XD

For reference, 9 is the mushroom-y symbol, 8 is the sideways infinity-type symbol, and o is the o-shaped symbol.
(under a spoiler because it takes up space like whoa)

Starting with O in the key, produces --

ccc-- v
ccv-- x
ccx-- o
cco-- z
ccz-- 9
cc9-- 8
cc8-- c
cvv-- o
cvx-- z
cvo-- 9
cvz-- 8
cv9-- c
cv8-- v
cxx-- 9
cxo-- 8
cxz-- c
cx9-- v
cx8-- x
czo-- v
czz-- x
cz9-- o
cz8-- z
c99-- z
c98-- 9
c9o-- x
c88-- 8
c8o-- o
coo-- c

vvv-- z
vvx-- 9
vvz-- c
vv9-- v
vv8-- x
vvo-- 8
vxx-- 8
vxz-- v
vx9-- x
vx8-- o
vxo-- c
vzz-- o
vz9-- z
vz8-- 9
vzo-- x
v99-- 9
v98-- 8
v9o-- o
voo-- v

xxx-- c
xxz-- x
xx9-- o
xx8-- z
xxo-- v
xzz-- z
xz9-- 9
xz8-- 8
xzo-- o
x99-- 8
x98-- c
x9o-- z
x88-- v
x8o-- 9
xoo-- x

zzz-- 8
zz9-- c
zz8-- v
zzo-- 9
z99-- v
z98-- x
z9o-- 8
z88-- o
z8o-- c
zoo-- z

999-- x
998-- o
99o-- c
988-- z
98o-- v
9oo-- 9

888-- 9
88o-- x
8oo-- 8

ooo-- o

[cherrylimeade]

goodluck with the plot since I can't do step 2 at all. I've decided to forget trying to do it.