u/Back-Track

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📝 NOTE

^(Once I receive feedback, I might readjust some mechanics on a separate part, located at the very bottom. I hope to keep the text of my original concept unchanged, so if I get convinced for a certain mechanic to be changed, maybe I'll add it there at the bottom.‎‎)

^(Also, don't mind the graphics of the abilities and the character I'm using. Those are just remnants of a survivor concept I had‎. I no longer intend to post the concept after the Whistle collab was cancelled, especially after considering that the character’s owner might not be comfortable with me creating a concept based on their character.)
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🗣️ INTRO

For the longest time now, I've seen many players complain about how bland the game's objectives are. Currently, we really only have one type of objective, and it's the flow, arukone, or numberlinks puzzle – whatever you wanna call it.

While I do like the idea of other objectives outside generators, for now, this is my proposal: 6 new generator puzzles. This concept does not intend for all these puzzles to be added or used in one round. It's more of a, "Oh, you don't like this one because 70% of the player base are children who do not wanna learn about Sudoku? Well, you're in luck – here's 5 other concepts!"

Also, I've seen some players say that the current generator puzzle is too easy and quick to finish. With that being said, rather than trying to balance these proposals to match the current puzzle type's difficulty and rewards (EXP, cash, malice, and time reduction), I believe we should focus on balancing objectives themselves. Though obviously, the community will have divided opinions about this (much like any other feature of the game 😭).

Plus, I heard the devs are planning to buff Noli's hallucinations someday. These additions and changes might indirectly help Noli through his new Prankster puzzle variants. On a related note, the images of the Prankster puzzle variants I'm proposing are just there to show what you might see if this concept were implemented. They don't guarantee that the difficulty is always the same. Sometimes there are multiple different errors, and sometimes there is only one error – it really depends on the puzzle type (more about this later). So take the images as proof of concept rather than how I really envision how difficult it would be.

Here's an Imgur link to all the images without Reddit's crazy compression. (I tried increasing the resolution, changing file types, and compressing them myself, losing gradients in the process, and yet Reddit still made them blurry. The closest success I got was using GIFs, but I couldn't zoom in on them on the mobile app. If you know how to work around this, let me know!)

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⚖️ OBJECTIVE BALANCING

I don't know. LOL!! You guys do the balancing for me. Though, I'll be adding my opinion of how many puzzles should be for all generator types (since I believe giving separate generator types for each puzzle type would be the best way to implement these, but feel free to disagree), but the rest of the balancing is up to y'all. So, here are some questions. I'd like to hear your thoughts about the following:

1. Should there be separate generator types for each puzzle type? If so, what will determine which generator spawns into the map?
2. Should one generator have multiple types of puzzles in it? If so, how would it randomize?
3. Should there still be 5 generators?
4. How many puzzles and how much of each reward (EXP, cash, malice, and time reduction) should be in each generator/generator type?
5. Which of these puzzles do you think should and should not be implemented? If there's anything you think shouldn't be added, is there any way to salvage it through nerfs or buffs?
6. How would Elliot's, Veeronica's, and Noli's passives work with these balance changes?
7. (I may have forgotten some other balancing questions – y'all can just address other questions and answers here.)

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📋 PUZZLE CRITERIA

I'm sure you guys have concepts of your own, and I might have already considered them but threw them into the trash since they do not meet the criteria I'm looking for. I also want to note that I believe generators should always contain puzzles rather than any type of minigame (I'll explain why in a bit). Here are my criteria:

1. The puzzle should work smoothly no matter what type of device you use or how good your connection is. I get 10 FPS when my laptop isn't charging, and when I join my friends, 9 times out of 10 it's on a server on the opposite side of the globe, giving me 300 ping (devs, PLEASE add a potato mode 😭).
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   With that being said, reaction or memory-type minigames are off the table. I'm not sure if you're getting my point, but this is why I prefer puzzles over minigames. So minigames like Whac-A-Mole, Simon Says, or whatever this is are out.
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   >!(Future me speaking. Now that I think about it, some of these might not be considered puzzles(?) – I'm not entirely sure. So, uh, forgive me and ignore my mistake. Beyond this point I will still refer to them as puzzles, but I can't say for certain if they're considered one.)!<
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   Also, we should consider console players and maybe even the upcoming smart TV ones – LOL!
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2. The puzzle should be color-blind-friendly and deaf-friendly. The puzzles need to have numbers, letters, symbols, shapes, or whatever. Also, the puzzles shouldn't be reliant on sound cues, though sound effects are just fine.
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   I do know that the current puzzle in the game has an animation where if you press one node, the other end plays a pulsing(?) animation, but that's just too subtle to be reliable.
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3. The puzzle should have a Noli Prankster variant. Putting aside all the signs that a generator is fake (excluding the puzzle itself), there should be some sort of "error" within the puzzle. The error in the current fake puzzle is that there will be missing and/or out-of-order numbers on the nodes.
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   I once considered a maze for a puzzle, but then I thought, "What's Noli gonna do with this?" So yeah – if the puzzle can't implement some sort of error, then it cannot be used.

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🧩 PUZZLE TYPES

After this point, I'll be explaining each of my 6 generator puzzle proposals. You've probably seen the images by now, but if you haven't, you can do it right now and view them while following along with my incredibly long and sad explanation.

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1) 🔠 ALPHABET

🟢 How It Works:

This puzzle uses a 4x4 grid. It can be completed by clicking/pressing the letters in ascending order (A, B, C, …, P). Letters that have been pressed in the correct order will turn green and get a dim green background.

If you click an incorrect letter, the puzzle will pause for 2 seconds, playing a fail sound effect and highlighting which tile you pressed wrong with a flicker animation in the process, and then restart itself (the same puzzle stays the same – it doesn't change. If you don't get it, check the last note in Miscellaneous Notes).

Nothing happens if you press an already pressed letter, so you don't have to worry about your fat thumbs or shaking hands – pressing them won't restart the puzzle.

You need to complete 4 puzzles to finish this generator.
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🟣 Prankster Variant:

Okay, stay with me now 🥹. This is the only unique case of prankster generators in my proposals. I get that this is my first proposal, but I promise it's simple 😭. Unlike my other puzzle proposals, this one is so straightforward that 99% of players should be able to tell the difference between a real generator and a fake.

The prankster variant of this puzzle would have duplicate letters, skipped letters, and/or letters beyond the letter P (like Q, R, etc.). However, most of the time it would only have duplicate letters so that hasty players get a chance of getting fooled.

In Figure A3, the errors are that there's a duplicate of the letter H, the letter M was skipped, and R is present. These are all 3 possible red flags, and having all three would be rare.

Now this is where it gets tricky. If you don't spot the error and start pressing the letters in order, you won't get the hallucination status effect just yet. You'll only get it once you press a duplicate letter, the letter before a skipped letter, or a letter beyond the letter P. Once you do that, you immediately get Hallucination 3.

Despite it being a terrible idea, players can still fix the fake generator and complete all the puzzles until it mocks them and resets itself. This is just so that if some kid actually falls for it and completes a few puzzles, the generator's green progress bar will show its progress, making it look a tiny bit more believable if you forgot to check for the other signs that it's a fake (sorry, I can't really explain it any better. I hope it made sense though 😭).
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🟠 Miscellaneous Notes:

• Maybe you can get an achievement for solo-completing this fake generator. A possible prize would be the YAAI Noli skin! (I already own it, but I'm feeling generous!)
• When I first made this, I originally called it "Counting Up," where it had numbers rather than letters. I made the graphics and even typed this whole explanation but with numbers instead. A few days later, I decided that letters would be better since numbers over 9 would have two digits, making it easier to find the correct order.
• I had to download a game like this on my phone, but the grid was a 5x5, making it letters A-Y (and of course, it doesn't have a prankster variant) to see if I should replace the 4x4 with a 5x5. After a couple of tries, it took me somewhere around 25 seconds on average to do it. I didn't like that, and I doubt anyone (excluding sweats) would either.
• Unlike my other puzzle proposals, this one starts without any color and only turns green once you press on a letter. While I do not like this inconsistency, I do feel like it looks cleaner and more intuitive(?). I considered switching it so that all of them are green, and whenever you click on the correct letter, it grays the letter and background out, but I don't know. Let me know if that's better!
• This puzzle is inspired by the Among Us "Unlock Manifolds" task.
  • Video (I spent half an hour looking for footage of someone failing it, but I couldn't for the life of me find one. I even own the game, but I don't wanna have to record myself explaining how to do it and what it looks like to fail it 😭. Maybe someone can hit me up.)
  • Wiki

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2) 🌟 LIGHTS ON

🟢 How It Works:

This puzzle uses a 3x3 grid. It can be completed by switching all the lights on. Pressing any light toggles it and the adjacent lights.

If a light is on, the tile will have a hollow circle in it and a dim yellow background. If the tile is off, it will have a vertical line in it.

You need to complete 5 puzzles to finish this generator.
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🟣 Prankster Variant:

The prankster variant would change the icons of the tiles.

The error could be making the hollow circle filled, vertical lines turning horizontal, changing the icons into other shapes or icons, and/or switching the circles' and lines' places (this shouldn't be a problem for the colorblind, right? They should be able to see that the background still has color or at least a lighter shade, right?).
‎ In Figure B3, the errors are that the "off tiles" have vertical lines rather than hollow circles, and also the "on tiles" have hollow squares instead of vertical lines.
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🟠 Miscellaneous Notes:

• The circles and vertical lines aren't just a design choice. They are actually based on the universal on/off symbols that represent electrical circuit states.
• I personally had to learn how to solve these for the sake of making this concept, and I quickly got fairly good at it. Here's the tutorial I used to get better.
• While a 4x4 is bigger than a 3x3, I find 4x4s a lot easier to solve. From what I know, the number of solvable combinations on a 4x4 is fewer than on a 3x3 (I could be wrong – let me know). So I didn't use 4x4 because it was a little too easy. On the other hand, 5x5 would definitely not be good for 70% of the playerbase (kids 😱).
• This puzzle was inspired by the old Forsaken generators we all know and hate, but with a few changes and less head-smashing.
  • Video of inspiration
  • Play it yourself! (From my experience, the game doesn't randomize itself, and you have to manually change the difficulty. This was a good start, but if you wanna get good at it, maybe just download one.)

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3) 🖼️ SLIDING TILES

🟢 How It Works:

This puzzle uses a 3x3 grid. It can be completed by arranging the numbered and pictured tiles in the correct order. You press a tile to slide it into the empty space.

If the tile is on the incorrect spot, the tile will be grayed out. However, if the tile is in the correct position, the tile will be colored violet with a dim violet background.

When you open up the generator, the puzzle's empty space location is random. However, the image itself will always have the bottom-right corner missing.

You need to complete 3 puzzles to finish this generator.
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🟣 Prankster Variant:

The prankster variant would have the numbers in the wrong order relative to the image, numbers higher than 8, skipped or repeated numbers, numbers switched with letters, and/or – most commonly – a tile's image being altered by flipping, rotation, or replacement with a different image.

I believe that if this were implemented, players would rely on the numbers over the tiled images. Therefore, I suggest the most common error would be an altered tile image. Next would be switched numbers, and rarely would it have duplicate numbers or letter switches (for example, 8 replaced with B or 6 replaced with G).

In Figure C3, the errors are that it's missing number 3, there are duplicates of number 7, there's a number 9, and the image on tile number 4 is rotated. Also, notice how the placement of the supposed 7th tile has a 7 on it, but it isn't colored? That's on purpose because that tile isn't actually the real 7th tile.
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🟠 Miscellaneous Notes:

• We could also add a visual hint on the side (just like the inspiration – check the last note). With that being said, I guess numbers on the tiles don't strictly have to be a thing as long as we get a visual hint, but nahhh, I like my numbers – muhahaha 😼!!
• While I did mention that the bottom-right corner is the missing one, this puzzle doesn't necessarily require that. However, I believe the most common version of this puzzle you can play in games and in real life has it at the bottom-right, and personally, I find that case the easiest to solve. With that being said, I'm also hoping players will rely on this so their chances of being fooled by Prankster variants are a little bit higher.
• When I first made the graphics, I made it so that
• This puzzle was inspired by Bing's Sliding Puzzle.
  • Video (This is just a tutorial, not the inspiration itself)
  • Play it yourself!

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4) 👌 ODD TRIOS

🟢 How It Works:

This puzzle uses a 5x5 grid. It can be completed by finding the 3 odd icons among all the others and selecting them. When you press a tile, the icon becomes selected, making the icon turn white and giving it a dim red background. All icons have a random rotation to challenge the player.

Pressing an incorrect tile does nothing, so you don't have to worry about misclicking and triggering a cooldown, unlike the Alphabet Order puzzle. Also, you can select more than 3 tiles, but the puzzle will only be solved when you have all 3 odd tiles selected at the same time.

You need to complete 5 puzzles to finish this generator.
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🟣 Prankster Variant:

One possible error of this prankster variant would be to have another set of 3 odd images. You can click on either odd trio to fix the fake puzzle, but this still requires you to press the same 3 odd images. After that, you know what happens.

Another possible error is that it can generate more than 3 odd images. If there are more than 3, pressing any 3 of them will be enough to fix the fake puzzle. But of course, after that, you know what happens again.

These two error types can show up together, though it's uncommon.

In Figure D3, the error is that there are two sets of 3 odd images. The first odd set is that 3 gingerbread men are faceless. I don't blame you if you thought that was the only set and thought the generator was real, because the other set is pretty subtle unless you were expecting it. If you haven't seen it yet, the second odd trio is that some gingerbread men have a sad face instead of a happy face like the rest.
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🟠 Miscellaneous Notes:

• We could also make it so that, just like the Counting Puzzle, it plays a fail sound effect and pauses the puzzle for 2 seconds. To make it more annoying, we could also have the puzzle restart itself upon pressing the wrong tile, just to mildly inconvenience players. I am lowkey evil – muhahahaha 😼!
• I have considered making prankster generators have fewer than 3 odd icons just to mess with players and so they waste their time, but maybe that's a bit too much. Maybe it'll only happen if there's already another odd trio set – I don't know. Let me know if this is a good idea!
• This puzzle was inspired by the Pou "Sad Tap" minigame (But without the timer or other differences).
  • Video
  • Wiki

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5) 🔷 QUARTETS

🟢 How It Works:

This puzzle uses a 6x6 grid. It can be completed by finding the matching sets of 4 icons and selecting them. When you press an icon, it becomes selected, turning the icon into white and giving it a dim blue background. There are 9 sets of 4 matching icons.

Pressing a non-matching icon will pause the puzzle for 1 second, playing a fail sound effect while highlighting the wrong tile with a flicker animation in the process, before letting you resume.

Once you match a quartet, the quartet gets grayed out and is no longer selectable. So if you accidentally click on it while a different icon is already selected, it won't pause the puzzle, but it will play an error sound effect (how merciful of me!).

You need to complete 3 puzzles to finish this generator.
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🟣 Prankster Variant:

The prankster variant will alter some icons slightly by flipping it, rotating it, or giving it a small different change.

In Figure E3, the errors are the fact that one book is upside down, one baby is flipped horizontally, one flower is rotated 90 degrees, one rabbit has a dot for its eye, and one mask has a frown face.

(Just as I mentioned before, I want to reiterate that the images I made are just so you can get a better picture of what I'm proposing. Just because the image has a bunch of alterations doesn't mean a fake generator will always have that many.)
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🟠 Miscellaneous Notes:

• The icons used here come from Icons8's Forma Bold Filled pack.
• The icons actually represent the characters in the game. Feel free to guess which ones! >!(Future me speaking, goodbye, Gubby 🤧.)!<
• This was supposed to be called "Matching Quartets," but after making the first slide of this post, I realized that it was too long.
• This was originally orange-themed rather than blue-themed, but after looking back at the 6 puzzles I created, I wanted something blue, so I replaced it. Though I do like the orange one better, I just can't leave blue behind! Let me know if orange is better! I also considered using cyan to make it look a little lighter, but let me know your thoughts!
• This puzzle was inspired by the Concentration card game (but without the time-consuming flipping and memorization and all that).
  • Wiki

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6) 🪟 WORDOKU

🟢 How It Works:

This puzzle uses a 4x4 grid. It can be completed by filling the grid so that each letter appears exactly once in every row, every column, and every smaller 2x2 subgrid.

You use the given letters as clues to figure out where the remaining letters belong, making sure no letter repeats in the same row, column, or subgrid. (If you don't get it, go watch a tutorial – LOL!! I promise, it's very simple!)

To add a letter, just press an empty cell. It will start with the letter A. Press it again to change to B, then C, then D, then back to A. The letters are colored (A = 🟥, B = 🟨, C = 🟩, D = 🟦) to help you keep track of what you added.

The puzzles already have half of the grid complete, so it won't take too much time. These pre-filled letters are white and have dim colored backgrounds (A = 🟥, B = 🟨, C = 🟩, D = 🟦).

The puzzle won't give you any confirmation if your answer is correct. It will only be solved once you input all the correct numbers.

You need to complete 3 puzzles to finish this generator.
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🟣 Prankster Variant:

The prankster variant will alter the letters, replacing them with a different letter, number, or symbol (for example, A ➨ 4, B ➨ &, C ➨ €, or D ➨ G).

I believe it should be mentioned right now that this puzzle, whether real or fake, will use images rather than actual text so that changing the font doesn't give any advantage, or in case we get slightly altered images of letters that do not have an actual Unicode symbol (no idea if I'm using the term correctly – let me know 🥹).

In Figure F3, the error is that the pre-filled letters are missing the letter A's because it got replaced by the number 4's. Also, I want to note that it doesn't have to necessarily make both letters have the error – one letter A being replaced by the number 4 should be good enough.
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🟠 Miscellaneous Notes:

• I personally want it to have fewer pre-filled tiles (I believe 4 should be enough), but I don't know if it can be solved quickly enough or if kids can solve it at all.
• I considered making the prankster variant have the colors and numbers not match, but then I remembered that color-blind players exist, so blame or thank them.
• I also considered one Prankster error that could happen is making all the letters lowercase, but I wasn't too sure if it's a good one – let me know.
• I also considered having the puzzle's pre-filled letters contain some "obvious" errors, such as the same letter appearing in the same row, column, or subgrid. If you filled this puzzle up (which is bound to be incorrect every time), the fake generator would accept your answer. But as much as I want this, I fear 70% of the player base would hate it. I don't know – please let me know if this is better.
• While it isn't necessary for the puzzle to only have ABCD as its letters, I believe that if it's kept like how I present it, players might get used to it and cause them to be fooled by the Prankster variant of this puzzle. Like, if it were to change each time (EFGH, MLKJ, NPQS, etc.), most players would be incentivized to check all the letters, which is a bad thing for Noli.
• I actually designed a version where the subgrids are more visible, but I didn't like how it turned out. So yeah, you can have the current one instead – LOL!
• This was supposed to be called "Mini Sudoku," but it was just so wordy.
• This puzzle was inspired by Sudoku, I guess.
  • Wiki
  • Play it here! (Though it's a little harder than the one I'm proposing because it's missing more letters.)

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🎀 EXTRAS

• Of course, all of these would have sound effects and animations, like that pulsing(?) thing whenever you press on a node in a normal generator, whenever you hover, press, release, or some other type of action (it really just depends on the puzzle). But of course, they really depend on the puzzle – I don't think all of them can use a pulsing(?) animation, so yeah.
• We can probably add a toggleable setting where the white progress bar at the side of the UI (and maybe even the green progress bar on the generator itself) can show how many tasks remain, just as a quality-of-life feature.
• You know that win screen where you can check how many objectives each player has completed during the match? We should still be able to view that information even after closing the screen.
  • I can’t count how many times I’ve facepalmed after forgetting to check who the gen-hackers were, or accidentally closing the win screen out of habit before I could look.
  • By the way, do y'all think someone was hacking here? If I had to guess, the Taph may have been the hacker, but I don't know for sure. Imgur Link.
• Guest 1337 receives no rewards other than time reduction 😼. /j
• Oh, and if you couldn't tell, I like this game. This took about a week to make. Devs, please give me Yourself 007n7, I am begging you – I promise to abide by your terms 🥹.

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🔄 UPDATES

After posting this lengthy yappathon and getting convinced to nerf or buff some things or rework some ideas, here are some changes I would make:

• Testing servers will be used for the transition.
• My sleep schedule.

Gonna post a concept about 6 new generator types tomr fr fr