Quest FAQ
This FAQ will address some recurring issues many players seem to have trouble with. Where possible hints will be given in stages so you can decide yourself if you just want a little nudge in the right direction or outright skip to the answer. To make spoilered hints visible just highlight them, their font colour is set to transparent.
The Communications Tower
Q: The password I found did not work?
A: There are several red herrings, are you sure you have already explored everything? Please also make sure to always enter the first password again before entering the second when you have left in between, it resets.
Q: I am sure I looked everywhere, what are the possible passwords hidden around the tower?
A : hitchhiker, 6x7, 42, piscinebabbler
Q: I have tried every combination of those but I am still stumped, what do I have to do?
A: You do not need to combine the passwords, they work as they are
Q: I have tried everything, what is the solution?
A: password1: hitchhiker, password2: piscinebabbler
The Shady Caverns
Q: I am lost in the caves, any help?
A: Map
Note: big cave at the bottom is Roy´s camp, the T-junction north of it is where you start out with directions/get reset to when you radio Roy
Q: Nope, still lost, I am not good with maps.
A: Here is a non-visual guide telling you what directions to pick - please use at your own discretion, you will miss out on some beautiful exploring if you use this!
W - N - N - E - SE - N - E - E - E - NW - N - NW - NW - E - N - NW
An Encrypted Message
Q: I have translated the message but the quest tells me I made a mistake, do I have to be careful with punctuation?
A: No, capitalisation, punctuation and any additional spaces are ignored. Please make sure to check your spelling. If you are sure everything is correct feel free to post and ask for help!
Q: I have the keyword but how do I use it to translate the message?
A: The keyword is used to tell you how the letters in the alphabet have been shifted to create the scrambled message. There are two ways to do that.
1) C A R O L B D E F.... X Y Z -> start with B after the keyword (because A is already in it) and write out all remaining letters in alphabetical order
2) C A R O L M N P... Y Z B D E ...K -> start with M after the keyword because it is the next letter after the L and then write out all remaining letters in alphabetical order, start at the beginning after Z
One of these methods leads to gibberish, the other gives you a reasonable message.
Q: I have used the keyword to create and alternate alphabet but how do I use it to translate the message?
A: Write the regular alphabet next to the alternate one. Find the letter in your message in the alternate alphbet. The letter next to it in the regular alphabet is the translation.
Example:
C A R O L B D E F - message: ACO
A B C D E F G H I - translation: BAD
Q: Can´t you just post the correct alphabet for the translation?
A: Here it is as an image because the forum keeps messing up my formatting
Q: I still cannot do it, any further help?
A: If you absolutely want to you can try entering your text on a site that tries to brute force it. That approach does not always give you perfect results though so beware.
Try searching for "substitution cypher brute force" and you should find sites that help you
Creature Research
No Q and A format here, just a few facts that are good to know:
1) You have to be the only owner of the creature you are going to submit, that means you have to get capsules from the cupboard, genome splicer or breed them yourself
2) Only capsules obtained _after_ reaching that point in the quest count
3) All creatures have to be raided to adults and then submitted at the same time, you cannot submit them separately
4) You keep the creatures after submitting their data
5) After submitting _all of them_ you are free to do whatever you wish with the creatures
6) No actual notes have to be submitted, the "data" is collected automatically by the site while you raise the creatures
This FAQ will address some recurring issues many players seem to have trouble with. Where possible hints will be given in stages so you can decide yourself if you just want a little nudge in the right direction or outright skip to the answer. To make spoilered hints visible just highlight them, their font colour is set to transparent.
The Communications Tower
Q: The password I found did not work?
A: There are several red herrings, are you sure you have already explored everything? Please also make sure to always enter the first password again before entering the second when you have left in between, it resets.
Q: I am sure I looked everywhere, what are the possible passwords hidden around the tower?
A : hitchhiker, 6x7, 42, piscinebabbler
Q: I have tried every combination of those but I am still stumped, what do I have to do?
A: You do not need to combine the passwords, they work as they are
Q: I have tried everything, what is the solution?
A: password1: hitchhiker, password2: piscinebabbler
The Shady Caverns
Q: I am lost in the caves, any help?
A: Map
Note: big cave at the bottom is Roy´s camp, the T-junction north of it is where you start out with directions/get reset to when you radio Roy
Q: Nope, still lost, I am not good with maps.
A: Here is a non-visual guide telling you what directions to pick - please use at your own discretion, you will miss out on some beautiful exploring if you use this!
W - N - N - E - SE - N - E - E - E - NW - N - NW - NW - E - N - NW
An Encrypted Message
Q: I have translated the message but the quest tells me I made a mistake, do I have to be careful with punctuation?
A: No, capitalisation, punctuation and any additional spaces are ignored. Please make sure to check your spelling. If you are sure everything is correct feel free to post and ask for help!
Q: I have the keyword but how do I use it to translate the message?
A: The keyword is used to tell you how the letters in the alphabet have been shifted to create the scrambled message. There are two ways to do that.
1) C A R O L B D E F.... X Y Z -> start with B after the keyword (because A is already in it) and write out all remaining letters in alphabetical order
2) C A R O L M N P... Y Z B D E ...K -> start with M after the keyword because it is the next letter after the L and then write out all remaining letters in alphabetical order, start at the beginning after Z
One of these methods leads to gibberish, the other gives you a reasonable message.
Q: I have used the keyword to create and alternate alphabet but how do I use it to translate the message?
A: Write the regular alphabet next to the alternate one. Find the letter in your message in the alternate alphbet. The letter next to it in the regular alphabet is the translation.
Example:
C A R O L B D E F - message: ACO
A B C D E F G H I - translation: BAD
Q: Can´t you just post the correct alphabet for the translation?
A: Here it is as an image because the forum keeps messing up my formatting
Q: I still cannot do it, any further help?
A: If you absolutely want to you can try entering your text on a site that tries to brute force it. That approach does not always give you perfect results though so beware.
Try searching for "substitution cypher brute force" and you should find sites that help you
Creature Research
No Q and A format here, just a few facts that are good to know:
1) You have to be the only owner of the creature you are going to submit, that means you have to get capsules from the cupboard, genome splicer or breed them yourself
2) Only capsules obtained _after_ reaching that point in the quest count
3) All creatures have to be raided to adults and then submitted at the same time, you cannot submit them separately
4) You keep the creatures after submitting their data
5) After submitting _all of them_ you are free to do whatever you wish with the creatures
6) No actual notes have to be submitted, the "data" is collected automatically by the site while you raise the creatures