Now you're really making me want to actually do it!no PvP skills needed. Either your victim is of the unprepared paper plane type, in which case even I could probably do it, or they are prepared and gone before you can send your message.
GALNET - Famed Treasure Hunter Herman Colt Missing - 29 OCT 3310
- Thread starter Aleks Zuno
- Start date
you know we're all rooting for you.Now you're really making me want to actually do it!
Technically yes - the game gives you enough usable length for an unsent comms message that you could use it as a makeshift notepad to decode these particular ones. I would still recommend using an actual notepad, though. That's just extra "gaming hardware" like a HOTAS or headset, to my mind.
As far as figuring out the encryptions goes, the way I learnt to do this sort of thing was from doing the Usborne Puzzle Adventures from a young age. You can get them second-hand as compilations easily enough - the Advanced Puzzle Adventures are pitched in terms of difficulty at the "older teen / adult" level once you've got the idea and (if you're into that sort of thing) the Map and Maze Puzzle book (Dixon and Parekh) in the companion Superpuzzles series is in my opinion the best single puzzle book I've seen with an incredibly difficult - though perfectly fair and well-built, requiring nothing more than the book itself and some scrap paper to make notes! - final puzzle. (Unfortunately, any description of why I think it's so good would give away too much of the solution)
My suspicion with this is that the writer of the final message is actually the killer, and would prefer it if people didn't hang around to investigate too closely, finding things which might contradict her story - but at any rate, is long gone with the vast majority of the treasure. There's probably no in-game continuation of that, at least not right now.
While following the breadcrumbs, I also thought she seemed kinda sus. We're are following the exploits of an infamous pirate lady and Kovalchuk is the only female member of the expedition and described as being very charismatic.I had no doubt she'd be the one to outlast the others. There could be some connection, but it's more likely just me clutching at straws.
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Ozric
Volunteer Moderator
The best stories leave you asking questions
I from the start had a suspicion that maybe Morrigan was not as dead as thought to be, but I suppose it could be equally possible that the woman in the treasure hunter group is actually the killer and wanted the spoils for herself.
I do think this doesn't have any further narrative significance - right now, at least - but it was a fun little trail to follow.
I do think this doesn't have any further narrative significance - right now, at least - but it was a fun little trail to follow.
yep i totally agree , which is why i proceeded with the entire 'hunt' from 1st jump GalNet in proper order as best i could without spoilers ... until... Well , once i got to the 3rd phase i just don't understand how u guys are decrypting the jarbled messages without using that outside 3rd party 'cypher' tool link? Is it possible to figure out these types of encryptions just by using IN-GAME methods? ( i'm not much of a code-breaker , so it's also very possible i just simply missed the obvious within the sent mail messages )
btw, after i completed the final phase of course i started wondering if somehow this is all connected to FDev wanting/hoping for us to finally discover RAXXLA to commemerate with 10-year anniversary & such. ( aka "Ascendency" ?
You can certainly do it with pen and paper and pretend you’re solving it in your cockpit. It’s usually a shift cipher with these things so it’s a good place to start. Try some letter offsets on the first encrypted word until it spells out a word you know and then you know the offset. There’s no shame in using the internet tool to quickly check different offsets as it just makes that process faster, I don’t consider that spoiling it.
After all, I’d imagine living in the 34th century your ship’s computer would definitely have all that. All comms would automatically be encrypted with methods far beyond our current ones. Such a simple cipher probably wouldn’t even be displayed to you in encrypted form, the computer would automatically recognize it for what it was.
For myself I used pen &paper.
We weren't given a key so Caesar Cypher is a reasonable guess.
I wrote out the Alphabet on a strip of paper, then pick out three letter words from the messages.
These are likely to be The, You or And.
Looking through the text the first two letters of some words match the first two of some of the three letter words. This identifies TH and by inference E.
It's fairly simple to line up a second alphabet with the one on the strip allowing the message to be decrypted quickly, usually while I'm refuelling at a starport.
We weren't given a key so Caesar Cypher is a reasonable guess.
I wrote out the Alphabet on a strip of paper, then pick out three letter words from the messages.
These are likely to be The, You or And.
Looking through the text the first two letters of some words match the first two of some of the three letter words. This identifies TH and by inference E.
It's fairly simple to line up a second alphabet with the one on the strip allowing the message to be decrypted quickly, usually while I'm refuelling at a starport.
Most cockpits and bridges include a keyboard and several screens. I've always wished it were possible to use them in game. It's a shame that they're just there for their cosmetic value.
(And then the coffee makers, obviously...)
This was the first event like this which i was able to do before the time on rewards ran out. i really enjoyed it, and the payout was great. id love more like this, or at least to be able to get the rewards from other events (maybe not CGs necessarily)
it was fun, and the sense of accomplishment from doing it without cheating was cool. thanks Fdev
it was fun, and the sense of accomplishment from doing it without cheating was cool. thanks Fdev
Ive had an XL cypher template set up for this stuff for a while, always enjoy doing this stuff on my own unless i get really stuck.
O7
The first word in each message was the giveaway and key as it was always the same.
O7
Other alternative take for the story -
Herman fabricated the story because he set off a few weeks before Halloween and has gone “missing” to set people off on a chase after the beacons he dropped, and invent a great tale of his treasure hunt upon his return in a few days.
Or he got tracked down into it further by not actually finding the treasure where it was said to be.
Or he got tracked down into it further by not actually finding the treasure where it was said to be.
Well , i had already finished the "hunt" ( with help of course ) at the time of my post you quoted. Reading back, i probably didn't make it clear enough that i completed it and so maybe it seemed like i was still "stuck" when i posted my question. But anyways....
yep that ^ is exactly what i did , until i got stuck on 3rd phase ( which is when i asked a pilot buddy ingame for hints/help , particularly since i had to logout soon lol ) .
While i was certainly familiar with jarbled words being unscrambled , i had no clue of the actual technical terms "shift cipher" and "letter offset" . And i def. didn't know about specific "Caesar" cypher term either. Now, because of playing a video game called Elite Dangerous, i've just learned something new which is apparently, well, universal.
imo , it's def. spoiler'ing it a bit . However, i don't fault nor shame anyone for doing so. Personally, my own personal preference, i typically try ( and enjoy ) staying IN-GAME for as long as possible to solve quests & missions & such. Just from a sheer immersion standpoint.
But hey we all have busy lives and limited time , so yeah sometimes, when all else fails, ya just gotta do what ya gotta do to get the task done.
See now THAT ^ is really what i was hoping to experience last nite when i embarked upon what was, for me as 6-month newb, a fresh 1st-time "hunt" content. As i was sitting there in my trusty DBX , reading the mails & messages at the 'listening beacon' , i kept wishing for Celeste my onboard computer to pop-in and be useful with some suggestions. ( like ohhh i dunno something like "CMDR, i suspect this could require a Shift Cypher to solve" ) -- But no, she just stayed silent as my clueless brain tried with futility to unscramble the jarbled words, whilst searching GalMap for systems with those ending numbers. Then she finally chimed in with... "FSD charging" .
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True though it was the third message before that became apparent.
hmm , i wonder if this little side-storyline will be a one-off or continue again in some form someday?
Also, did anyone get their in-game rewards for this yet? ( the ones mentioned within the final completion in-game Mail )
Yes, you get them right away.
ugh well then i need to file a Customer Service ticket , because i have both completion ingame mails ( i saved them in my inbox and also took screenshots during the final phase ) but yet i don't see any of the listed rewards in 'suit customization' window tabs. Also weird cuz i got the credits reward just fine. ---Maybe my game bug'd since i was in a DBX without any Cargo-hold? ( so no "inventory" )
Darnit. i hate bothering Customer Service on a major update patch-day ...
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