Multi-cache Idea

[+robbymcdobby]

I had this idea for a multi-cache the other day, but I wanted to bounce it off some fellow geocachers first. It's pretty complex. I've never hidden a multi before and I want to make sure its done right.

 

The cache would be called "Report Card". It is a multi cache with a "school" theme. Each stage of the cache would represent a different school subject. I was thinking 5 subjects (more than 5 could be too much).

 

Stages

1. Math

2. Science

3. History

4. English

5. Physical Education

 

These cache containers would have to be fairly large (probably .50 cal ammo cans or larger) for reasons I am about to explain.

 

Now, inside each stage, there will be 6 smaller containers labeled "A", "B", "C", "D", "F", and "Kids". Inside each of these containers will be a puzzle that, when solved, will reveal the coordinates to the next stage. All of the puzzles will be based on the school subject in which it is hidden. However, if you're going to try to solve the puzzle in the "A" container, it's going to be considerably more difficult to solve than the puzzle in the "F" container. Catch my drift?

 

So, one might ask, why not just take the easy way out and solve the "F" puzzle for each of the stages? Well, there's the thing. THE IDEA OF THE CACHE IS TO TRY AND GET THE BEST REPORT CARD THAT YOU CAN.

 

So, upon completing the final stage, you will have to post your "grades" in the log book and the online log for everyone to see. And, as the hider of this cache, I would need to check your grades to make sure you aren't cheating. So, to log the find, you would need to e-mail me the answers to the questions I ask so that you don't log an "A" when you really got a "C".

 

The "Kids" container would be in place so that children (who obviously can't do calculus, read shakespeare, or balance a chemical equation) could complete the cache without having to FLUNK every time. That's not much of a confidence booster.

 

At the end, I was thinking of rewarding my good little "students" with some sort of prize for their efforts. Maybe even offering a secret "Extra Credit" cache along the way.

 

Also, this cache would obviously NOT be hidden anywhere near a school.

 

So, WHAT DO YOU THINK?

[+briansnat]

Looks like it could be fun.

[+TrailGators]

I had this idea for a multi-cache the other day, but I wanted to bounce it off some fellow geocachers first. It's pretty complex. I've never hidden a multi before and I want to make sure its done right.

 

The cache would be called "Report Card". It is a multi cache with a "school" theme. Each stage of the cache would represent a different school subject. I was thinking 5 subjects (more than 5 could be too much).

 

Stages

1. Math

2. Science

3. History

4. English

5. Physical Education

 

These cache containers would have to be fairly large (probably .50 cal ammo cans or larger) for reasons I am about to explain.

 

Now, inside each stage, there will be 6 smaller containers labeled "A", "B", "C", "D", "F", and "Kids". Inside each of these containers will be a puzzle that, when solved, will reveal the coordinates to the next stage. All of the puzzles will be based on the school subject in which it is hidden. However, if you're going to try to solve the puzzle in the "A" container, it's going to be considerably more difficult to solve than the puzzle in the "F" container. Catch my drift?

 

So, one might ask, why not just take the easy way out and solve the "F" puzzle for each of the stages? Well, there's the thing. THE IDEA OF THE CACHE IS TO TRY AND GET THE BEST REPORT CARD THAT YOU CAN.

 

So, upon completing the final stage, you will have to post your "grades" in the log book and the online log for everyone to see. And, as the hider of this cache, I would need to check your grades to make sure you aren't cheating. So, to log the find, you would need to e-mail me the answers to the questions I ask so that you don't log an "A" when you really got a "C".

 

The "Kids" container would be in place so that children (who obviously can't do calculus, read shakespeare, or balance a chemical equation) could complete the cache without having to FLUNK every time. That's not much of a confidence booster.

 

At the end, I was thinking of rewarding my good little "students" with some sort of prize for their efforts. Maybe even offering a secret "Extra Credit" cache along the way.

 

Also, this cache would obviously NOT be hidden anywhere near a school.

 

So, WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Cool idea but I would classify them as a mystery caches.

[+Too Tall John]

Sounds interesting. Any cache that will require the cacher to email the owner will need to be listed as a mystery cache, though. Maybe since they need to perform a task on site it should be a mystery anyways.

 

Maybe if there was a way to give the people who did the "A" work a shorter way to get to the final, maybe like skipping a grade, rather than making them message you. "If you do the "A"s, it's a 1/4 mile walk; the "F"s hike a mile."

 

That'd motivate people to get "A"s. Otherwise, I suspect you'll get a lot of "Got an F. TNLNSL TFTC."

 

If they log it at all.

 

I'd do it, though!

[+briansnat]

Maybe if there was a way to give the people who did the "A" work a shorter way to get to the final, maybe like skipping a grade, rather than making them message you. "If you do the "A"s, it's a 1/4 mile walk; the "F"s hike a mile."

 

That would be a good idea. There is a cache near me like that. It requires that you solve a puzzle. Correct answer and the route to the final cache is relatively easy. Wrong answer and it's a longer hike over much tougher terrain.

[+TrailGators]

Maybe if there was a way to give the people who did the "A" work a shorter way to get to the final, maybe like skipping a grade, rather than making them message you. "If you do the "A"s, it's a 1/4 mile walk; the "F"s hike a mile."

That would be a good idea. There is a cache near me like that. It requires that you solve a puzzle. Correct answer and the route to the final cache is relatively easy. Wrong answer and it's a longer hike over much tougher terrain.

We have one sort of like that out here. This multi asks you who is cooler Marco Ramius or Jack Ryan and gives you coords for each answer. If you hike to the wrong one (Jack Ryan) you get some to an ammo can with the lid locked with a padlock, which is chained to a tree with a padlock. The outside of the ammo can says "Marco Ramius rocks!" Then of course, you have hike back to the other one...

 

Edit: Note that I "might have" switched the answers in case you ever do that cache while visting San Diego!

Edited November 30, 2007 by TrailGators

[Dinoprophet]

Maybe if there was a way to give the people who did the "A" work a shorter way to get to the final, maybe like skipping a grade, rather than making them message you. "If you do the "A"s, it's a 1/4 mile walk; the "F"s hike a mile."

 

That would be a good idea. There is a cache near me like that. It requires that you solve a puzzle. Correct answer and the route to the final cache is relatively easy. Wrong answer and it's a longer hike over much tougher terrain.

Yeah, but what if you'd prefer the tougher route?

[+carleenp]

Sounds like fun. I would put on my list of ones I want to find.

 

Do you have a park in mind? Many out here seem pretty full for a multi with all full size stages, although I haven't really been up your way a lot to see what is open. Some of the DuPage forest preserves might work well. Just note that they have a permit policy.

[4wheelin_fool]

I had this idea for a multi-cache the other day, but I wanted to bounce it off some fellow geocachers first. It's pretty complex. I've never hidden a multi before and I want to make sure its done right.

 

The cache would be called "Report Card". It is a multi cache with a "school" theme. Each stage of the cache would represent a different school subject. I was thinking 5 subjects (more than 5 could be too much).

 

Stages

1. Math

2. Science

3. History

4. English

5. Physical Education

 

These cache containers would have to be fairly large (probably .50 cal ammo cans or larger) for reasons I am about to explain.

 

Now, inside each stage, there will be 6 smaller containers labeled "A", "B", "C", "D", "F", and "Kids". Inside each of these containers will be a puzzle that, when solved, will reveal the coordinates to the next stage. All of the puzzles will be based on the school subject in which it is hidden. However, if you're going to try to solve the puzzle in the "A" container, it's going to be considerably more difficult to solve than the puzzle in the "F" container. Catch my drift?

 

So, one might ask, why not just take the easy way out and solve the "F" puzzle for each of the stages? Well, there's the thing. THE IDEA OF THE CACHE IS TO TRY AND GET THE BEST REPORT CARD THAT YOU CAN.

 

So, upon completing the final stage, you will have to post your "grades" in the log book and the online log for everyone to see. And, as the hider of this cache, I would need to check your grades to make sure you aren't cheating. So, to log the find, you would need to e-mail me the answers to the questions I ask so that you don't log an "A" when you really got a "C".

 

The "Kids" container would be in place so that children (who obviously can't do calculus, read shakespeare, or balance a chemical equation) could complete the cache without having to FLUNK every time. That's not much of a confidence booster.

 

At the end, I was thinking of rewarding my good little "students" with some sort of prize for their efforts. Maybe even offering a secret "Extra Credit" cache along the way.

 

Also, this cache would obviously NOT be hidden anywhere near a school.

 

So, WHAT DO YOU THINK?

I give it an A for creativity.

[+elmuyloco5]

Definitely would take a special trip for that one. I homeschool, so I really like the whole idea. I think our kids would like it too. Maybe add some different grade level questions in for the kids. Our kids absolutely love the "Are you smarter than a 5th grader" thing.....it would be a bit like that for kids.

[+robbymcdobby]

Yeah, I could go one of a bunch of different ways with this.

 

It depends on how I want to reward my geocachers. For getting better grades, I could choose to take them a longer hike with much cooler sites. This would mean that I believe the average geocacher enjoys longer, more engaging hunts.

 

Then again, I could reward cachers who do well with a shorter hike. This would mean that I believe the average geocacher takes pleasure in expendiency. He/She is someone who wants to get the find and move on to the next cache.

 

^^^Forgive me, I got my B.S. in Economics. I'm a total nerd for this type of stuff.

 

I don't think that the e-mail idea would be too bad. I mean, since it would be a puzzle cache, it's not as if my e-mail account would be overflowing with log entries.

 

Here's an idea.

 

Stage 1 - Contains a work sheet that has all the questions. Meaning that it has Math, Science, History, English, and Physical Education questions for all grade levels A, B, C, D, F, and Kids. You can choose to complete any grade level and receive the coordinates.

 

I would hide a total of 7 caches.

#1 - initial cache

#2-6 - extra caches

#7 - final cache

 

Completing "A" takes you to 1 extra cache and then the final.

Completing "B" takes you to 2 extra caches and then the final

Completing "C" takes you to 3 extra caches and then the final.

Completing "D" takes you to 4 extra caches and then the final.

Completing "F" takes you to 5 extra caches and then the final.

And I don't know what I'd do for "Kids".

[+LDove]

I like it! It would be alot more fun too if you asked questions that "most" people would know, at least to get a C - or average.

[Dinoprophet]

Here's an idea.

 

Stage 1 - Contains a work sheet that has all the questions. Meaning that it has Math, Science, History, English, and Physical Education questions for all grade levels A, B, C, D, F, and Kids. You can choose to complete any grade level and receive the coordinates.

 

I would hide a total of 7 caches.

#1 - initial cache

#2-6 - extra caches

#7 - final cache

 

Completing "A" takes you to 1 extra cache and then the final.

Completing "B" takes you to 2 extra caches and then the final

Completing "C" takes you to 3 extra caches and then the final.

Completing "D" takes you to 4 extra caches and then the final.

Completing "F" takes you to 5 extra caches and then the final.

And I don't know what I'd do for "Kids".

That would be a good implementation, but I've often heard it said that people don't like to go to a stage, then have to return to a computer before continuing on. Also, I think it cuts into your original idea a bit.

 

What about this: the test is right on the cache page, with five questions in each subject, easy to hard. The seeker fills out the whole test and sends their answers. You send back a report card with a grade for each subject, a total GPA, and a set of starting coordaintes, based on the GPA, much like what you posted above. (you could even name it: "GPS GPA"). 4.0, you go directly to the final; 3.9-3.0 has to do one extra stage, etc. Not sure about kids, though.

 

It would also be cool if all the questions were geocaching-related.

Edited December 3, 2007 by Dinoprophet

[+wimseyguy]

Sounds like a very fun idea and one that will take a lot of work on your part. Those tend to be the more memorable caches. Just be sure the hides and hikes get as much thought as the puzzle part of it.

You will have to figure out another way to verify the grades though. I don't think you will be able to get it published with an email me for the final coords qualification. Nor would you want to run out and check each time someone claims to have completed the courses.

[Dinoprophet]

You will have to figure out another way to verify the grades though. I don't think you will be able to get it published with an email me for the final coords qualification. Nor would you want to run out and check each time someone claims to have completed the courses.

Oh, yeah. I was going to mention that but wasn't sure. But here it is:

The information needed to solve the puzzle must be available to the general caching community and the puzzle should be solvable from the information provided on the cache page. For example, a puzzle that requires research on public websites in order to determine the coordinates may be acceptable, while a puzzle that requires sending an e-mail to the cache owner with the solution in order to obtain the coordinates may not be.

[+Renegade Knight]

....So, WHAT DO YOU THINK?

 

I hate multi caches.

I like this one. What a great concept.

[+robbymcdobby]

I hate multi caches.

I like this one. What a great concept.

Good. That's very encouraging. Wow, everyone has given me some very good ideas for this. The whole "no e-mail" thing kind of limits me, but that's okay.

 

So, according to the rules, I'm basically going to have to post the questions for this cache on a website or on the cache page itself so that it is available online, correct?

 

I guess that makes it better. Then people won't be out in the middle of the woods finding that they must turn back and revisit their computers before continuing the cache hunt.

Edited December 3, 2007 by robbymcdobby

[Dinoprophet]

So, according to the rules, I'm basically going to have to post the questions for this cache on a website or on the cache page itself so that it is available online, correct?

Welllll, I don't think a separate page is allowed either. I think you're going to need a way for the seeker to self-verify. That's hard to do without making it easy to solve it in reverse. Keep thinking on it, though. It obviously would be a popular idea.

[+briansnat]

So, according to the rules, I'm basically going to have to post the questions for this cache on a website or on the cache page itself so that it is available online, correct?

 

The questions can be in the caches too. They don't have to be online.

[+Markwell]

GCC9D

GC9A69

The second of the two was quite fun. Since it's been archived for over two years, here's what I did.

 

 

First point was straight forward. In that box was a supply of cards:

X.XX meters

Nb Ce Sr Li

Fr Xe Ge He

Those aren't the real letters, but using the list of elements, you could figure out that Nb (Niobium) had an atomic number of "41" and Ce (Cerium) had an atomic number of 58. String all of the elements together and you had a set of coordinates that led you to a second box.

 

In the second box was a card and a supply of CDs. Card said:

Listen to the CD

CD has an introduction, including a certain distance in meters (read by me). Then the next two tracks were morse code - giving the cooridnates and even parking coordinates for the third stage.

 

Third stage was a box that had a card and instructions. Card read "X.XX meters". Instructions were that based on a three distances listed in each of the earlier boxes, a cacher should be able to determine the final coordiantes for the cache.

Edited December 3, 2007 by Markwell

[+Stunod]

...and I absolutely HATED Markwell while I was working on those caches.

 

I got over it after I finished.

Edited December 3, 2007 by Stunod

[+wimseyguy]

Here's an idea.

 

Stage 1 - Contains a work sheet that has all the questions. Meaning that it has Math, Science, History, English, and Physical Education questions for all grade levels A, B, C, D, F, and Kids. You can choose to complete any grade level and receive the coordinates.

 

I would hide a total of 7 caches.

#1 - initial cache

#2-6 - extra caches

#7 - final cache

 

Here's another idea. Each subject is its own stage. You place the quiz sheet for that subject in the cache with questions/puzzles that can be solved on site, but all ultimately have the same digital solution (0-9). The questions are hardest for A and easiest for F. You could even create a separate quiz sheet for kids.

 

Set up the final cache to solve to N xx.xx.ABC/ W 0xx.xx.DEF where A-F=the solution for each subject's quiz.

Just ask the finders to post their average grade/GPA for all to see for fun. I think most caches will be honest with which options they chose to 'graduate' and find the final exam cache.

After all, your point is to create a fun multi that is found, not a real test isn't it?

[+robbymcdobby]

 

Here's another idea. Each subject is its own stage. You place the quiz sheet for that subject in the cache with questions/puzzles that can be solved on site, but all ultimately have the same digital solution (0-9). The questions are hardest for A and easiest for F. You could even create a separate quiz sheet for kids.

 

Set up the final cache to solve to N xx.xx.ABC/ W 0xx.xx.DEF where A-F=the solution for each subject's quiz.

Just ask the finders to post their average grade/GPA for all to see for fun. I think most caches will be honest with which options they chose to 'graduate' and find the final exam cache.

After all, your point is to create a fun multi that is found, not a real test isn't it?

 

Yes, I think there's something to that. I like that because it is very similar to my original idea, but more manageable. For the sake of simplicity, I think it would be a good idea to do without the whole "e-mail me" thing. Having cachers e-mail me just makes the cache unnecessarily complicated. It may even discourage potential cachers from hunting the cache. I mean, what do I care if they're posting the correct grades or not? It's all just for fun anyway.