Abandoned crates

[Scree]

I'm putting up a github issue on this, but I figured a discussion thread would be good.

tl;dr of the issue:

1: the deca-code mastermind puzzle is a pain in the arse.
2: It's such a pain in the arse that people are skipping the puzzle entirely and just blowing crates open, usually by asking engineering/xenoarch for an emitter.
3: once they get an emitter there's been a couple of times that they've gone straight-up guncargo 'cause access restrictions no longer matter.

So basically the "puzzle" has turned into "might as well just be access-locked as far as miners are concerned" which has a knock-on effect of "miners need to be able to bypass access locks, possibly using lasers", which leads to "miners can order actual guns and open them when security aren't looking".

So, basically this comes down to two real problems:
1: puzzle is dicks.
2: bypassing the puzzle entirely with a gun/emitter is easy and risk-free.

To solve part 2 of the problem, how hard would it be to have the explosion trigger upon shooting the crate? May require a special class of "secure crate" to be created. (with bonus of being able to put some cargo things in that class, like military-grade weapons. Emaggable, yes, but shootable no)

For part 1, that's the tricky part. Anyone got any ideas for a simple RNG puzzle?
Main criteria are that it should be reasonably guessable without a tool, but not instawin if you do have one.

[orbisa]

the prize inside the crates is already shitty, why not just make them unlocked and be done with it?

((also, the puzzle is doable with a notepad))

you can also revert to the former puzzle or dumb it down to three digits

[Scree]

Having tamper-proof crates that explode and destroy the contents when shot would be a neat feature either way. As it stands, one egun is all it takes for cargo to suddenly become more heavily armed than security and science combined.

[orbisa]

certainly, science should get lockboxes back

edit: while we are on that, why not let cargo get weapons, since a good amount of the playerbase already can have a weapon to spawn with them regardless of job?

[Scree]

This isn't the thread for "I disagree with weapon permits on general principle".

Also nobody has a permit to spawn with a fucking SAW, which is what blowing a cargo crate open can get you.

[Aces]

certainly, science should get lockboxes back

edit: while we are on that, why not let cargo get weapons, since a good amount of the playerbase already can have a weapon to spawn with them regardless of job?

Stop derailing the thread. Not only is your argument invalid, but irrelevant to the discussion.

[Dhaeleena]

Why we just dont use the OLD thing to open crates we had on the old code...it was a lot more easier and you always had a chance of the thing exploding. Three tries, you use the multitool to see if the number you used was higher or lower...and thats it.

[Aces]

I did like the old system but I still want deca-code crates to explode when shot at.

[Keira_Feia]

I liked the old system too, granted I don't even know how to open the things in the new system. I had a method in the old system though that was pretty reliable on making the crates open although it did still leave a margin of error.

[Scree]

Posted this in the github issue, but the new puzzle is definitely solvable if you know what you're doing.

4 digits, all digits are between 0 and 9, with no repeats. Let's say the code's 0438 for this example.
1st guess: 1234. 2nd: 5678.
My first guess gets me 1 in the correct position, one in the wrong position. Second guess gets one in the correct position. I know the last digit must be 9 or 0.

I try 3456. Again, I get a correctly placed one, and an incorrectly placed one. If 5 or 6 were the correctly placed digits from the second guess, they've now moved and would be incorrect, so I know the one that's correct now MUST be the incorrectly-placed digit from the first guess - which is the 3 or 4.

I try 7890. Two correct, both incorrectly-placed. I knew one of 9 or 0 were in there, which means 5 and 6 aren't in it (there's only one correct digit in 5678, which I now know is either 7 or 8). Also, all four numbers were found in 3456 and 7890, which means we can eliminate 1 & 2.

Four guesses down. 1, 2, 5 & 6 have been ruled out. 1234 had one digit in the right place and one in the wrong. 5678 had one in the right place. So the last two digits are either 38 or 74.

Let's try 3974. Two digits, both in the wrong place. That tells us the last digits are 38, AND since we'd already confirmed both 3 and 4 were present, 7 & 9 must not be.
So it's either 4038 or 0438 - since 3456 had a correctly placed one, and we know 3 is the 3rd digit and 5 and 6 aren't in it, 4 must be the second digit - leading us to the final answer of 0438. In six moves. Out of ten.

Some of the codes will be less tricky, other will be more so, but it's absolutely solvable in ten moves.


That said, my puzzle-tolerance should probably not be the baseline for what I'd expect players to chew their way through, seeing as how I didn't bat an eye at that time Jemli left a message using a vigenere cipher lying around (with the key!) while the entire rest of the crew couldn't crack it. It depends what sort of campaigns you've been playing in!