How to solve the temporal probe minigame

captiannemo117

Preface:
IMO, the temporal probe minigame should not have even made it in AoY, it's not fun, it's not challenging, it's tedious. Tedious things do not belong in a game. I would like it removed, but since that most likely wont happen, could we at least have the option to make one of our bridge officers do it instead?

"Nemo! I don't care about your stupid opinion! Just tell me how to solve the damn minigame already!" Okay okay, on to solving them.

'3 by 3 square with numbers'
This one is the easiest, each row and column add up to 15, all you have to do is subtract each number in a column or row from 15 and you have your solution.

'4 digit code'
This one is a pain, you have to 'crack' the 4 digit code. Change only 1 digit at a time, start with the first one, increase the value until it says you have a correct digit in the correct location. Ignore the correct digit in incorrect location, it's worthless. Keep going through the digits until you get all 4. It's just a simple brute force attack, I have no idea who would think this is fun, it's the kinda thing people make programs to do because it's so tedious.

'Find the word in the jumble of text'
This one is easy, it just takes persistence. You have a bunch of words, most with letters replaced with underscores, you have to find which word selection matches the jumble. Just go through the list with 1 of the choices in mind, and see if it matches any of the options, if it doesn't, go to the next option and do the same thing.

An alternative is to just spam click the bottom most option. Once you get one correct answer, it will move to the second problem, then the third. The faster you can click through this one, the faster you can do it.


Well, that's it, if I find any more minigame puzzles, I will update this to include them.

Easy? Yes. Fun? No.

kjwashington

I would say that the devs dropped the ball on this, but that doesn't adequately describe it. It's more like they dropped the ball so hard it broke physics and phased through the floor.*

*I was going to go on, but after this point it seemed mean.

storules

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jim625

could of just give us a scanning game but nope just annyoing puzzles

ares523

The first probe minigame is flawed and a joke These mini games are iritating. The first one. No subtracting will not work I tried it and I got nothing out of it.

God Damnit give some tips already for these probe minigames!!

officerbatman81

Similar to sudoku. Looks like simple math, solve the equation to find what makes 15.

leemwatson

Simple primary school mathematics tedious!!?? Standards really have fallen in education if people can't solve a simple thing like this OP!! OH MY WORD!! And another thing, if people are confronted with a challenge that makes them think more than once, they'll just complain it's too hard (such as Uber-HP NPC's). Best just leave it.

starkaos

A possible solution for the mastermind codes is do 1111, 2222, 3333, 4444, and 5555 first. Doing this will give the correct digits, but not the correct order. Then just put in the digits for the next code and switch two digits until you get the right code.

ricardo58

Yeah just give everyone a "brain turned off mode" already, where we get everything instantaneously with no work or challenge involved...

starkaos

captiannemo117 wrote: »

ricardo58 wrote: »

Yeah just give everyone a "brain turned off mode" already, where we get everything instantaneously with no work or challenge involved...

Did you even read my first post? I said it *wasn't* challenging. It isn't challenging, it's tedious. Tedious

To some people they are challenging, to others they are tedious, and to others it is a warm up. Gives a bit more interest to the game than shoot these people and scan that. Some people want a bit more thought in solving codes than 0001, 0002, 0003, 0004, ........., 9999.

breadandcircuses

captiannemo117 wrote: »

ares523#1432 wrote: »

No subtracting will not work I tried it and I got nothing out of it.

Okay, so first row, start with 15, then subtract 3, that's 12, then subtract 5, that's 7. A = 7
Second row, start with 15, subtract 2, that's 13, subtract 9, that's 4. B = 4
Third row, start with 15, subtract 6, that's 9, subtract 7, that's 2. C = 2

If each row AND column add up to 15...

...those columns are going to be a problem...

...but yeah, we get what you mean.

jade1280

Dammit man
I am a Temporal agent not a math teacher

evilmark444

I'm generally above average at math when I actually apply myself. However, reading and writing were always my prefered subjects in school, and I've always HATED math, no matter how easy I find it. I'm very disappointed to learn that the temporal agent stuff is so math heavy ...

Off topic: Am I the only one that got a "You are now a Delta Recruit" announcement when my TOS character got to level 10?

baldrick8

Off topic: No, my Temporal Agent was suddenly a Delta Recruit too.
That's rather sloppy, imo.

teknesia

Eh? Honestly, I like it better than I do the radiation scans or the isolinear chip game. If I never see those two mini games again, it will be too soon. A quick word or math puzzle that's an easy process of elimination or poor man's sudoku... that's gravy by comparison

dracounguis

The only way to win is to not play their game!

leemwatson

teknesia wrote: »

Eh? Honestly, I like it better than I do the radiation scans or the isolinear chip game. If I never see those two mini games again, it will be too soon. A quick word or math puzzle that's an easy process of elimination or poor man's sudoku... that's gravy by comparison

Exactly. This takes about the same time as the scan for me. Easy and works the grey matter! lol

baudl

this forum's quality would rise significantly if each post required a puzzle like this before being posted.

anyway, my take on these puzzles is rather positive...I like them. But then again, there are people that do not, and I understand them too.
However, fun story...I was watching a STO stream on twitch, and the guy was unable to do the white, blue, green key puzzle...seriously, he was frustrated before he started about it, didn't even try to understand the game and just embarrassed himself trying to do what obviously he did not like or was really incapable of doing. First I laughed, then I felt pity. Pity at his frustration when confronted with something that required 10 seconds of his brain-time.
So anybody that thinks those games are tedious and unneccessary, please reflect on why you find a 10-30 second puzzle frustrating in a game that 90% of the time requires you to press a button to succeed.

jslyn

Man, I always failed Basic Math. Algebra I could do. Addition and Subtraction, not so much. Doesn't make any sense, but that is how is for me.

baldrick8

tbh, I hate those green/white/blue puzzles too. They don't agree with the way my brain works. The other stuff I can do just fine.
But then again, I already loathed them as a kid, so I guess that's consistent at least.

mustrumridcully0

Maybe the moderators should @midniteshadow7 sticky a puzzle game solution thread? Obviously not everyone likes to solve puzzles. (Personally, I like some, and hate others. The Isolinear Chip mini-game is one I absolutely hate.)

jorantomalak

I found the number puzzle easy and this coming from a high school drop out

admrenlarreck

Math puzzles now? Great. Please nerf! Numerical Dyslexia, hates numbers!

fiberteksyfir

Its sodoku in tbe simplest form and the 4 numbers one i forgot what its called but theyre all very easy imho.. finding the probes is my problem.. the one on pjem was especially "fun"

centaurianalpha

I found the 4-number pattern both interesting and challenging to a degree. TBH, if they make a truly challenging puzzle, players will just stomp their feet and whine, while the rest of us welcome something beyond the status quo. The "sodoku" puzzle was elementary, but still something new to STO, so I was glad to see that the dev's haven't just given up on creativity.

stargazerman

This absolutely annoys the living F out of me.