Pointless Project

NOTE: Open README.html in a browser to view this document in a much better format.

Introduction

The point(less) of the Pointless Project is to create a compelling, puzzle-filled challenge inspired by the Synacor Challenge, but targeted at a pre-college audience. The goal is to allow the School of Computing (SoC) to engage potential students during the time they are selecting a college by providing opportunities to remain in contact, encourage curiosity, and engage in creative problem solving while learning about computing and the SoC.

Playing through the Synacor Challenge will provide the clearest understanding, however reading someone else’s ”travel log” is also insightful. The key components to success include:

a personalized download containing the complete game

the ability to play completely offline

a series of different but related logic puzzles and riddles

multiple opportunities “along the way” to be recognized for their problem solving skills.

Project Setup

Installation

Linux (recommened)

For Debian based distributions, run:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install g++ libboost-all-dev libzip-dev

You will also need a way to open the zipfiles. We have found the best programs to use is file-roller and pcmanfm (or some other file manager such as nautilus). But use whatever you see fit.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install file-roller pcmanfm

For Arch based distributions, run:

sudo pacman -S gcc
sudo pacman -S boost
sudo pacman -S libzip
sudo pacman -S pcmanfm
sudo pacman -S file-roller

Windows

For windows, we recommend developing with WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux). Please install it if you do not already have it using this guide. After that, launch WSL and follow the steps to installing on Linux.

For viewing the zipfiles, we have found that 7-zip works best.

Mac

Unfortunately, we have not been able to get the project built on MacOS. We have decided the the best option for Mac users is to choose a virtual machine to run some Linux distribution.

Here are some popular VM’s:

QEMU (my favorite but harder to set up)
Virtualbox (easiest but slowest)
VMware (high quality but paid)

There are many more out there, so choose whichever one suits you best.

Once a VM has been chosen, choose your favorite flavor of Linux and download its ISO and have the VM use it, then follow the installation on Linux.

Building

First, clone the repository if not done already:

git clone https://www.github.com/Lunatic-Labs/pointless-project.git/

Go into the src/ directory:

cd ./src/

Then use the Makefile to build the project:

make <opt>

where opt is one of:

all → perform all Makefile flags

clean → removes all object files and all generated zipfiles

cleanzip → removes all generated zipfiles

Building the project will create a directory called obj where all object files are located as well as create a zipfiles directory where all puzzle zipfiles are generated. You can now inspect and solve the puzzle(s) by choosing the appropriate zipfile.

Puzzle Creation Framework

It is obvious to see that there are a lot of directories in this project, and not all of them contain code. In fact, most of these directories contain the necessary resources for their respective puzzle.

Any directory that starts with files- are resource directories. They contain (at least) the .desc.txt for each puzzle as well as any supporting files that the puzzle needs (other HTML files, images, etc).

Any support files that are prefixed with `.` will not be included in the zipped-up puzzle. Files that do not have this prefix will be included in the zipfile.

Each puzzle’s generated HTML page (instructions.html) has a specific structure:

Instructions.html
Header (generated)
Body (.desc.txt)
Footer (generated)

The HTML Header and Footer are located in src/resources/ and do not need to be touched (unless changes are needed).

Below is a UML diagram of how a puzzle gets created.

Implementing a New Puzzle

Implementing a new puzzle is increadibly easy with how we implemented it. Here are the steps to take when doing so.

Puzzle Resources Directory

Start by creating a new directory in src/ and name it files-<new puzzle name>. Then inside of there, create a new file called .desc.txt. This is where the instructions, hints, and other info about the puzzle is stored. Everything in this file will be put into an HTML file, so make sure that it follows the HTML rules.

In order to transfer information easily from C++ to HTML/Javascript, we use a special delimiter in this file, namely %DELIM. For example, if I need to pass a password and an array that is generated in C++ into this .desc.txt file, I would do something like:

<script>
  let password = %DELIM;
  let array = [%DELIM];
</script>

It is then the job of C++ to “stringify” the required information to pass to .desc.txt. In order to make the explanation more easy to follow, I will make a new puzzle called “fib”, where the point(less) of it is to have the user find the n^th number of the fibonacci sequence.

cd ./src/
mkdir files-fib && cd files-fib
echo "What is the <b>%DELIM</b>th number in the fibonacci sequence?" > .desc.txt

Puzzle Implementation

Once the above step is done, create a new file called <puzzle name>-puzzle.cpp in src/ and put the entrypoint of the function that will create the puzzle. We will also need to include ./include/puzzle.h to have access to the Puzzle object.

#include "./include/puzzle.h"

Puzzle fib_puzzle_create(long seed)
{
  return {"files-fib", "changeme", {}}; // NOTE: "files-fib" is the puzzle requirements directory from the previous step.
}

The return value of this function is a Puzzle object. It is defined as:

struct Puzzle {
  // The filepath to the appropriate directory
  // that contains all of the information needed
  // for the puzzle.
  std::string contents_fp;

  std::string password;

  std::optional<std::string> extra_info;
};

So we are returning a new puzzle where

requirements = “files-fib”

password = “changeme”

extra info = None

The password field is what will set the password for the next zipfile layer. The extra_info field is purely for debugging and is strictly used for the side effect of printing when running the application. Nothing that gets put into it will be displayed/used in the final puzzle in the zipfiles.

Now it’s time to actually create the solver for the puzzle. I will create a fib function that will find the number.

#include "./include/puzzle.h"
#include "./include/utils.h" // utils_rng_roll, utils_html_printf, utils_generate_file

static int fib(int n)
{
  if (n < 2) return n;
  return fib(n-1) + fib(n-2);
}

Puzzle fib_puzzle_create(long seed)
{
  // Get a random number in the range 3..=10.
  int fibnum = utils_rng_roll(3, 10, seed);

  // Get the solution to the puzzle.
  int password = fib(fibnum);

  // Generate the HTML content to be displayed to the user
  std::string html_content = utils_html_printf("Fibonacci Sequence",
                                               "./files-fib/.desc.txt",
                                               {std::to_string(fibnum)});

  // Create the instructions.html
  utils_generate_file("./files-fib/instructions.html", html_content);

  // Finally return the Puzzle object.
  return {"files-fib", std::to_string(password), {}};
}

Now that the implementation is done, add the signature of Puzzle fib_puzzle_create(long) into ./src/include/puzzle.h.

Using the Puzzle

In the main function in main.cpp, there is some code that looks like:

std::vector<Puzzle> puzzles = {
  math_puzzle_create(seed),
  color_puzzle_create(seed),
  pixel_puzzle_create(seed),
  maze_puzzle_create(seed),
  encrypt_puzzle_create(seed),
  based_puzzle_create(seed),
  ast_puzzle_create(seed),
  fin_puzzle_create(seed),
};

Put the new puzzle that was created in the spot that you want it to appear in the nested zipfiles. For example, if I want it to be the third puzzle that the user solves, I would do:

std::vector<Puzzle> puzzles = {
  math_puzzle_create(seed),
  color_puzzle_create(seed),
  fib_puzzle_create(seed), // Added it here
  pixel_puzzle_create(seed),
  maze_puzzle_create(seed),
  encrypt_puzzle_create(seed),
  based_puzzle_create(seed),
  ast_puzzle_create(seed),
  fin_puzzle_create(seed),
};

Now run make all and these things will happen:

The files-<puzzle name> directories will all generate a file called instructions.html.

./src/zipfiles/ will be populated with zipfiles.

The entire project will be located in ./src/zipfiles/puzzle1.zip, as it contains the zipped files puzzle1..puzzleN. The reason why we also generate the other puzzles outside of puzzle1.zip, is because it allows for easy testing without having to go through the entire zipfile structure.

Current Puzzles

These are the currently implemented puzzles. Each one has three entries.

Adjustable Variables: Variables can be adjusted to make the puzzle harder/easier
Description: What the puzzle does
RNG: What exactly in the puzzles are random

Math

Adjustable Variables:

MATH_MIN1
MATH_MAX1
MATH_MIN2
MATH_MAX2

Description:

This puzzle serves as the Hello, World! puzzle. It introduces the user to reading the description, solving the puzzle, and inputing the password.

We prompt the user to solve a very simple math question in the form of $a$ + $b$.

RNG:

$a$, $b$

Color

Adjustable Variables: None

Description:

This puzzle asks the user to enter the hex value of one of Lipscomb’s colors (purple or yellow). The goal of this puzzle is to teach the user about hex values. We hope that the user does some simple Googling to find this website to find the colors.

RNG:

purple | yellow

Pixel

Adjustable Variables:

MAX_LOOP (must change number of html elements to match)

Description:

The goal of this puzzle is to retest the user on their knowledge on this website hexadecimal color codes learned in the “Color” puzzle. The hex codes come directly from the bison svg included in the pages header.

The user is shown a hex code with along with a number.

#331E54 = 66

The number corresponds to the number of pixels of the given hex code found in the bison svg. Following the first code/number pair, there are two more rows. The first row will contain two hex codes, an “X” denoting multiplication, and a number. The number is the product of the pixel count related to the respective hex codes.

#F4AA00 X #331E54 = 396

The final row contains three code/number pairs and a question mark. The user must find the product.

#FFFFFF X #F4AA00 X #000000 = ?

RNG:

The order of hex codes in the arithmetic

Maze

Adjustable Variables:

MAZE_SIZE (must be an odd number)

Description:

The goal of this puzzle is to teach the user about run-length encoding. This encoding algorithm places numbers before the letters, while we expect the numbers to be after. We do this because it more closely matches function calls in the form of $f \space x → n$.

We randomly generate a maze as an SVG and have the user navigate it using the following rules:

Instruction	Direction
u	up
d	down
l	left
r	right

However, the answer is not just the path that you must take (uulrrrd for example), you must apply the run-length encoding algorithm to it. So the answer would be: u2lr3d.

RNG:

The maze that is presented.

Encrypt

Adjustable Variables:

ENCR_WORDS
ENCR_OPS
ENCR_ROTATIONS_MIN
ENCR_ROTATIONS_MAX
ENCR_CHANGE_MIN
ENCR_CHANGE_MAX

Description:

This puzzle challenges the user by decrypting the password. We present them with a list of steps used to encrypt it, and they must undo it to get the password.

The following things can happen:

shift all characters by $i$ to either the right $(r)$ or left $(l)$
swap the characters at index $j$ and $k$
increase each fourth letter alphabetically by $n$.

RNG:

The instructions used
$i$, $r$, $l$, $j$, $k$, $n$

Based

Adjustable Variables:

CELLS (must modify table in .desc.txt to match)

Description:

The goal of this puzzle is to teach the user about base conversion. They are given a description of three Pointless-created bases. The actual instructions follow in a story-esque fashion, here they are simplified:

Convert values to base 10
Sum them up for each row
Convert the sum to base 2
Check if LSB is on or off
Save the resulting LSB values
Take that base 2 number and convert it back to base 10 (the rightmost column)

They are then shown a table with values occupying each cell, except for the right most cell in each row.

24	F	3	?
11	41	41	?
A	18	27	?
35	F	E	?

RNG:

The values in each cell

Rematches

The “rematch” puzzles serve as the point in the project where there is a noticable difficulty spike. It interrupts the linear nested puzzle format by having the user solve three harder versions of previous puzzles. Each one of these rematch puzzles gives a piece of the password to advance past this rematch section.

Maze Rematch

Adjustable Variables:

MAZE_SIZE (must be an odd number)

Description:

This is the harder version of the Maze puzzle. We provide cryptic instructions in with the goal of having them inspect the page and navigate to the console. Once they type “instructions” a list of function calls are presented. The user then needs to navigate the maze $(M_1)$ using these function calls and must explore two other mazes $(M_2, M_3)$ with items that need to be picked up. Once these items are picked up, they then need to go to $M_1$ and go to the yellow tile. The password is then presented when they type “exit()”.

RNG:

$M_1, M_2, M_3$, password

Encrypt Rematch

Adjustable Variables:

ENCR_WORDS

Description:

This is a harder version of the Encrypt puzzle. It presents the user with an encrypted password as well as a not-so-helpful-at-first order of steps that were taken. The user must interact with a textbox on screen and try to figure out that pattern in which the buttons mess with their input. Once they have figured it out, they must decrypt the password.

RNG:

The password

Based Rematch

Adjustable Variables:

NUM_VALS (must modify html elements to match)
VAL_SZ

Description:

This is a harder version of the Based puzzle that also incorporates sorting. The user is presented with an instructions page outlining the challenge. Hidden on the page are three buttons that, when clicked, enumerate the Pointless-created bases that they will encounter in the actual puzzle.

The bases:

Symbolic 8: !, @, #, $, %, ^, &, *
Glyphic 16: {, }, [, ], (, ), `, >, a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h
Mystic 36: |, ~, ,, /, ?, *, +, =, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z

Upon clicking the “Enter” button, they will be brought to the actual puzzle. There are NUM_VALS number of values, each of length VAL_SZ. Clicking on these values places them into the container in the center of the page. The user must fill this container with the values sorted from smallest to greatest. Doing so correctly will prompt a modal to appear containing the key.

RNG:

The values

BST

Adjustable Variables:

ROOT_MIN
ROOT_MAX

Description:

The player is presented with a root number. The goal is to create a binary search tree (BST), and trace the route from the root node to the destination by solving the expression set with your root number.

These are the possible expressions that can show up with examples:

addition: $a$ + $b$
subtraction: $a$ - $b$
multiplication: $a$ * $b$
division: $a$ / $b$
square root: √($a$)
comparisons: $a$ > $b$
hexadecimal: FFFFFF
complex expression: √?(($a$ -/+ $b$) +/- ($c$ *||/ $d$))

RNG:

root
expressions in each path
path from root → destination

Graph Paper Robot Puzzles

The idea behind this trilogy of paper robot puzzles, is that we want the player to bring out a piece of graph paper and something to color the squares with and do this all on paper. We want to teach the player about certain topics in the first two paper robot puzzles (state, memory etc.) then incorporate those ideas in the last one.

Binary Addition (Graph Paper Robot I)

Adjustable Variables:

TAPE_WIDTH
TAPE_HEIGHT
REQ_CARRIES

Description:

The player is presented with a 2x12 grid of (mostly) red $(r)$ and green $(g)$ pixels. The red pixels means 0 and green means 1. Then, following the rules in the instructions, the player should color in the correct squares with the correct color. The idea of this puzzle is that the player is actually performing binary addition.

RNG: $r, g$ pixels

Logic Gate (Graph Paper Robot II)

Adjustable Variables:

enum Gate (needs implementation)
input length (unimplemented, needs to be a power of 2)

Description:

NOTE: This puzzle is currently in development, so the description is sparse on purpose.

The player is presented with a grid of colors $(g)$ which are (unknown to the player) logicgates. These logic gates will be read in by the robot as instructions. The first instruction is in bottom left. Then the robot reads to the right, and loops back to the left when it reaches the end. (like reading a book, but bottom to top) There is another robot managing the memory, which are the colored circles $(c)$. When the first robot reads in a gate, the memory robot pops off the two bits on the left. The logic gate is then evaluted with those bits, and the result pushed on the right end of memory.

The answer is every evaluation in order.

RNG: $g,c$

(Graph Paper Robot III)

Currently unimplemented

Utilities

Like the name implies, these are very helpful utility functions that are available.

Externs

extern uint32_t FLAGS;

Typedefs

typedef std::vector<std::string> strvec_t;

typedef const std::string filepath_t;

Macros

ANS_ONLY

Disables artifacts from being created

SET_SEED

Whether or not to use a set seed

NO_HDR

Makes it so that the header of a puzzle will not be generated

NO_FTR

Makes it so that the footer of a puzzle will not be generated

BISON_GRID

Makes the pixelated bison generate with a grid

Functions

void utils_generate_file(filepath_t filepath, std::string output_body);

Generates a file with the given output_body. Will be written to the filepath.

int utils_rng_roll(int min, int max, long &seed);

Generates a random number between min and max inclusive using seed.

int utils_roll_seed(void);

Rolls a seed using the current time.

strvec_t utils_walkdir(filepath_t path);

Returns a vector of strings containing the names of all files in path. Recursively walks all subdirectories and will ignore all files/dirs that start with ..

void utils_zip_files(filepath_t out_file_name, strvec_t file_names, std::string password="");

Zips the given files into a single file out_file_name with file_names and the password password.

std::string utils_file_to_str(filepath_t filepath);

Returns the contents of filepath as a string.

std::string utils_html_printf(std::string title, filepath_t desc_filepath, strvec_t args);

Creates an HTML body. All occurrences of “%DELIM” in the text of desc_filepath will be replaced with the given args in order. It is similar to printf.

NOTE: You can have this function not insert a header if the flag NO_HDR is set prior to calling this function. The same is true for the footer if NO_FTR is set.

Graphics

This section includes a bunch of utility functions dedicated to graphics.

Structs

struct Pixel

struct Image

struct Svg

struct Svg::Shape

struct Svg::Shape::Rect inherits struct Svg::Shape

struct Svg::Shape::Circle inherits struct Svg::Shape

Operator Overloads

Pixel &Image::operator()(size_t i, size_t j);