As many of you avid puzzle solvers may know, I'm currently on vacation. As I was taking a bath in the hot tub barrel (one of these) we have here I was looking at the pipe and imagining the smoke and how it traveled upwards and gathering particles and speed. And then it hit me, what if I made a puzzle based on that concept?

I want this to be a sort of inspiration to others thinking about how they can create a puzzle. So this was my workflow:

Idea: Make a puzzle inspired by the smoke traveling through a pipe.

Concept: Make the code being assembled along the way of moving upwards, while constantly increasing in size. Binary fits this perfectly.

Visualization: Create a grid, make every X lines thicker to create separation between each set. In this case bottom is 1 row, then 2, 3... ...7, 8. Then add a bit of visual styling to it, just to make it less boring.

Define the rules: I'm calling the rows A-H. First set has A, second set BA and so on until HGFEDCBA. So set A will travel and merge with BA. BA will then travel and merge with CBA. Each time adding the values together. 0+0 = 0, 0+1 = 1, 1+1 = 10. So, for example. If A = 1 and BA = 01, when they merge they become BA=10. Once all sets are calculated, the final GA code will be the binary result at the top most set, read from top to bottom.
Note that A is always at the bottom of each set, so in the upper most set H is at the top.

Reward: Something bundled that normally is worth ~37€.

Ask me anything about creating this or any puzzle. I will freely offer advice and hints. There are no tricks to it, it's all about adding the numbers together. One thing I will not do though is post the final solution.

View attached image.
7 years ago*

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Reserved

7 years ago
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And now I notice the puzzle looks like a crack pipe... >.<

7 years ago
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I just assumed that's what was going on in the hot tub as I was reading how you came up with this puzzle. :)

7 years ago
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My brain works in mysterious ways without the use of drugs. ^^

7 years ago
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Very mysterious. I'm doing something wrong.

7 years ago
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Describe your workflow, perhaps I can nudge you in the right direction. :)

7 years ago
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I have tried a number of methods. Most don't yield enough to make a code. The two that do give me characters that can't be used in a code.

7 years ago
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This is where the final code ends up. Each column read from top to bottom to form a binary -> ascii symbol.

View attached image.
7 years ago
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Bump for completed! :)

7 years ago
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Great to know I didn't mess anything up. :)

7 years ago
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It was easy after I realized the coordinate system :)

7 years ago
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There's a coordinate system? ^^

7 years ago
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Hah! :) I talked about the rules, how to merge rows :)

7 years ago
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Ah, yes. All according to binary addition. :) I think I may have made it sound harder than it is. :P

7 years ago
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Bump

7 years ago
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Enjoy your holidays!

7 years ago
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Thank you. :)

7 years ago
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Bump for completed!

7 years ago
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Bump for solved ^^

7 years ago
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Could you give us the rows in text or maybe CSV form?

7 years ago
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I'd have to rewrite it all. Each set and column is its own text layer in photoshop for a total of 40 layers. Not very easily transferable to a excel-esque sheet I'm afraid. :(

7 years ago
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Bump before going to bed.

7 years ago
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: hello forgive'm not very good with English, I'm your puzzle solving steamgifts but did not quite understand how to get the final code, I can explain what I understood and tell me if I'm okay
I have already sets a, ba,cba to hgfedcba but do not understand the code of the GA and the above sets

7 years ago*
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Does this comment help you? It explains where the final code is.

7 years ago
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Hot bump!

7 years ago
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Isn't that what you call pregnant females when you have a fetish for it? =P

7 years ago
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Ha! Sounds definitely hot...

7 years ago
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Bump for solved

7 years ago
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Bump for congratulating you. :P

7 years ago
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bump for solved, but it is L2+. 5 entries so far

7 years ago*
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Indeed. If you're interested in the level you need, just check the profile of the creator. It's easy to figure out that my level 2 locked GA is the one this leads to. :)

7 years ago
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Never mind (: you have already explained restriction to winterregen user in that locked giveaway thread

7 years ago
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I don't really need to bump, since I already have 5 entries, but I thought it would get more since I've written down what you need to do. :) Where are the regular suspects?

7 years ago
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cracked

7 years ago
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Oh noes. All the water will leak out!

7 years ago
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Bump for solved.

7 years ago
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Final bump. 3 hours to go.

7 years ago
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Got the answer but it did not work for some reason.. Have a bump anyway!

7 years ago
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Bump for solved!

7 years ago
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