droid327
Well-known member
While its nice to have non-combat puzzles as part of quest progression, the current styles have some issues...
Mirror puzzle, tile puzzle: always the same solution, so quickly learned.
Pentagram puzzle: Always start fully dark/light, so always the same solution. Even if you randomize it, too, there's only a few rules to learn to quickly solve them
Dice puzzle: Hell to the no. No one likes these. They're overly hard, and prone to issues with lag as well. Plus, always same solution
Blackout puzzle: easy trick to solve most configurations
Floating ball puzzle: only a few preset configs for each one, and a good challenge level, though easily memorized if there's only one config (eg Saltmarsh hilltop)
"Simon" puzzle: this one's fairly good, its randomized and not too problematic (aside from occasional lag spikes)
I think it would be good to come up with some other puzzle types that are both engaging and able to be fully randomized, since that creates the most replayability. I think looking at some simple board/paper games would be a good place to find inspiration:
"Battleship" puzzle: 5x5 tile of lights. 3(?) tiles are "hits", chosen at random. Player selects a tile, it flashes for 2 seconds, and then lights up red (miss) or hit (green). Find all 3 hits, and proceed.
"Sudoku" puzzle: 3x3 tile of lights, lights cycle red-blue-green. Two tiles are randomly preset and cannot be changed. Goal is to cycle the tiles so there is one of each color in each row and column. Preset tiles are always in different rows and columns and are different colors, this ensures no unsolvable puzzle.
"Mastermind", or "Wordle" puzzle: Row of 6 tiles with a lever. Tiles cycle between 6 runes. A random pattern is chosen. Player sets a pattern, pulls the lever. Correct runes in the correct space light up green. Runes that are in the pattern, but in the incorrect space, light up yellow. Iterate until the correct pattern is complete.
"Glass Bridge" puzzle: Sequence of 6(?) pairs of tiles in a vertical sequence. Bottom two tiles are lit up white and selectable, the rest are dark. One of the two is correct. Choose it, and it lights up green and the next two tiles above it activate. Choose the wrong one, it flashes red for 1 second and the puzzle resets.
"Last Crusade" puzzle, more difficult variation on Glass Bridge: Floor tile grid, size of grid can vary, High Gravity effect. One extra tile on each side for "start" and "finish". There is a "safe" path, randomly chosen, through the tiles to the other side. Stepping on a "good" tile lights it up. Stepping on a "bad" tile teleports you back to the start tile.
Any other randomizeable puzzle inspirations you can think of that would be easy to import into DDO?
Mirror puzzle, tile puzzle: always the same solution, so quickly learned.
Pentagram puzzle: Always start fully dark/light, so always the same solution. Even if you randomize it, too, there's only a few rules to learn to quickly solve them
Dice puzzle: Hell to the no. No one likes these. They're overly hard, and prone to issues with lag as well. Plus, always same solution
Blackout puzzle: easy trick to solve most configurations
Floating ball puzzle: only a few preset configs for each one, and a good challenge level, though easily memorized if there's only one config (eg Saltmarsh hilltop)
"Simon" puzzle: this one's fairly good, its randomized and not too problematic (aside from occasional lag spikes)
I think it would be good to come up with some other puzzle types that are both engaging and able to be fully randomized, since that creates the most replayability. I think looking at some simple board/paper games would be a good place to find inspiration:
"Battleship" puzzle: 5x5 tile of lights. 3(?) tiles are "hits", chosen at random. Player selects a tile, it flashes for 2 seconds, and then lights up red (miss) or hit (green). Find all 3 hits, and proceed.
"Sudoku" puzzle: 3x3 tile of lights, lights cycle red-blue-green. Two tiles are randomly preset and cannot be changed. Goal is to cycle the tiles so there is one of each color in each row and column. Preset tiles are always in different rows and columns and are different colors, this ensures no unsolvable puzzle.
"Mastermind", or "Wordle" puzzle: Row of 6 tiles with a lever. Tiles cycle between 6 runes. A random pattern is chosen. Player sets a pattern, pulls the lever. Correct runes in the correct space light up green. Runes that are in the pattern, but in the incorrect space, light up yellow. Iterate until the correct pattern is complete.
"Glass Bridge" puzzle: Sequence of 6(?) pairs of tiles in a vertical sequence. Bottom two tiles are lit up white and selectable, the rest are dark. One of the two is correct. Choose it, and it lights up green and the next two tiles above it activate. Choose the wrong one, it flashes red for 1 second and the puzzle resets.
"Last Crusade" puzzle, more difficult variation on Glass Bridge: Floor tile grid, size of grid can vary, High Gravity effect. One extra tile on each side for "start" and "finish". There is a "safe" path, randomly chosen, through the tiles to the other side. Stepping on a "good" tile lights it up. Stepping on a "bad" tile teleports you back to the start tile.
Any other randomizeable puzzle inspirations you can think of that would be easy to import into DDO?
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