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"Intercaches"


wuliwup

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That's the old version. The new version is here: http://www.intercaching.com

 

It doesn't have nearly the capabilities as a Wherigo, but I plan on making more. You can create "choose your own adventure" types caches with this, as you can make any set of waypoints visible from any other set of waypoints. Changes I haven't released yet include being able to restrict times on an intercache to make a new type of night cache.

 

This will be unlikely to have an offline mode anytime soon, though I've been thinking of making a simplified version for offline use.

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Looks like this requires an internet connection to play. Most of the Wherigos around here are in areas where internet is spotty or non-existent. Unless they create a way to play in offline mode, I doubt it will catch on very quickly.

 

They'll catch on OK in areas with reliable internet access.

 

They seem very similar to a few caches I've seen in my caching area, the kind of thing that could be converted to a Wherigo but that would mean it would only run on a select few devices, as opposed to just about any phone with internet access from the last 10 years or so.

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Are "Intercaches" an official Groundspeak Project or a private initiative?

At the moment it seems to me that it is in alpha- or beta stadium.

By the way, my mobile browser doesn't work with it, although it supports the "geolocation API". I get a popup with an error message: "Geolocation is required for this page, but your browser doesn't Support it."

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Are "Intercaches" an official Groundspeak Project or a private initiative?

At the moment it seems to me that it is in alpha- or beta stadium.

By the way, my mobile browser doesn't work with it, although it supports the "geolocation API". I get a popup with an error message: "Geolocation is required for this page, but your browser doesn't Support it."

 

It's my own project, though I've talked at length with Groundspeak about it to make sure they are ok with it.

 

I've tested this extensively with Android and iPhone. There are 6 (I think) intercaches published right now throughout the US and most haven't had problems with it. If you are getting the popup, you should verify that in settings that everything is enabled. What OS does your mobile use?

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Are "Intercaches" an official Groundspeak Project or a private initiative?

At the moment it seems to me that it is in alpha- or beta stadium.

By the way, my mobile browser doesn't work with it, although it supports the "geolocation API". I get a popup with an error message: "Geolocation is required for this page, but your browser doesn't Support it."

 

It's my own project, though I've talked at length with Groundspeak about it to make sure they are ok with it.

 

I've tested this extensively with Android and iPhone. There are 6 (I think) intercaches published right now throughout the US and most haven't had problems with it. If you are getting the popup, you should verify that in settings that everything is enabled. What OS does your mobile use?

 

I just did a quick look over of the site and can't see how the stages integration with a cache published on the Groundspeak site. Does each game *require* an unknown geocache for the final? I was thinking it might be kind of fun to create an intercache during an 11 hour layover I'm going to have in Istanbul that had some of the various places I visited (it could start and end at the airport).

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I just did a quick look over of the site and can't see how the stages integration with a cache published on the Groundspeak site. Does each game *require* an unknown geocache for the final? I was thinking it might be kind of fun to create an intercache during an 11 hour layover I'm going to have in Istanbul that had some of the various places I visited (it could start and end at the airport).

 

Nope. You can create an intercache completely unrelated to geocaching. I have a client using this same app (rebranded and repackaged) for purposes other than geocaching.

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Looks like this requires an internet connection to play. Most of the Wherigos around here are in areas where internet is spotty or non-existent. Unless they create a way to play in offline mode, I doubt it will catch on very quickly.

 

They'll catch on OK in areas with reliable internet access.

 

They seem very similar to a few caches I've seen in my caching area, the kind of thing that could be converted to a Wherigo but that would mean it would only run on a select few devices, as opposed to just about any phone with internet access from the last 10 years or so.

I haven't seen any smart phones, made in the past decade, that won't do Wherigos.

I didn't know there was such a critter. :unsure:

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Looks like this requires an internet connection to play. Most of the Wherigos around here are in areas where internet is spotty or non-existent. Unless they create a way to play in offline mode, I doubt it will catch on very quickly.

 

They'll catch on OK in areas with reliable internet access.

 

They seem very similar to a few caches I've seen in my caching area, the kind of thing that could be converted to a Wherigo but that would mean it would only run on a select few devices, as opposed to just about any phone with internet access from the last 10 years or so.

I haven't seen any smart phones, made in the past decade, that won't do Wherigos.

I didn't know there was such a critter. :unsure:

 

There are smartphones, and REALLYsmartphones.

None of them would be able to do whereigos without the third-party apps that were developed.

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To put two cents in here -- I think requiring internet connectivity (or 4G data) is a mistake.

 

I'm have only recently bought a tablet (wifi only), and it is capable of running Wherigo. I havent bought into the smartphone world and $$$ data plans.

 

The mobile platforms (Android, etc) are okay, the big initial problem with Wherigo was that you needed a very specific GPS device. Now that there is an app, I think it has more potential.

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To put two cents in here -- I think requiring internet connectivity (or 4G data) is a mistake.

 

Over 50% of new phone sales are smart phones. This will only be going up. It's probably much higher for geocachers as a population.

 

I don't know the percentage, but a large percentage of new cachers go geocaching only via smart phone. I prefer the old hand held to my phone for most geocaching, but the newer crop of cachers is different.

 

There are huge advantages to making this completely web based, vs having native apps, as far as development and deployment costs. New features can be rolled out without changing software on thousands of devices. Features can be rolled out simultaneously on iPhone, Android, and the 2 or 3 people who use Windows phones.

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To put two cents in here -- I think requiring internet connectivity (or 4G data) is a mistake.

 

Over 50% of new phone sales are smart phones. This will only be going up. It's probably much higher for geocachers as a population.

 

I don't know the percentage, but a large percentage of new cachers go geocaching only via smart phone. I prefer the old hand held to my phone for most geocaching, but the newer crop of cachers is different.

 

There are huge advantages to making this completely web based, vs having native apps, as far as development and deployment costs. New features can be rolled out without changing software on thousands of devices. Features can be rolled out simultaneously on iPhone, Android, and the 2 or 3 people who use Windows phones.

 

Had to get that Windows Phone crack in there, didn't you? Is that retaliation for me making that "where are the parking coords as an additional waypoint?" on one of your 2003 hides? :P

 

OK, you said there's only 6 so far? There is one in my area, but we're near your home base, and you advertised in local forums. I hope this grows really big for you. Is there a list of them on your website? I didn't see one. Might be a pain when there's 1,000 or so though.

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Had to get that Windows Phone crack in there, didn't you? Is that retaliation for me making that "where are the parking coords as an additional waypoint?" on one of your 2003 hides? :P

 

That makes two people now that I've heard bought a windows phone. I don't know what you're talking about ... my 2003 hides have parking coords on them, at least the ones that matter. You better look again.

 

OK, you said there's only 6 so far? There is one in my area, but we're near your home base, and you advertised in local forums. I hope this grows really big for you. Is there a list of them on your website? I didn't see one. Might be a pain when there's 1,000 or so though.

 

There are 5 published that I know of, though they don't have to be made public in the directory. The current list of public ones is here:

http://intercaching.com/intercache/play.php

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To put two cents in here -- I think requiring internet connectivity (or 4G data) is a mistake.

 

Over 50% of new phone sales are smart phones. This will only be going up. It's probably much higher for geocachers as a population.

 

I don't know the percentage, but a large percentage of new cachers go geocaching only via smart phone. I prefer the old hand held to my phone for most geocaching, but the newer crop of cachers is different.

 

There are huge advantages to making this completely web based, vs having native apps, as far as development and deployment costs. New features can be rolled out without changing software on thousands of devices. Features can be rolled out simultaneously on iPhone, Android, and the 2 or 3 people who use Windows phones.

 

I generally agree with the notion of a web based site vs. a native app and that the percentage of smart phone use has risen considerably.

 

I also see a significant limitation due to a dependency on a current and reliable internet connection. As I see it, this is the kind of location based game that is ideal for travelers and is akin to a lot of multi-caches you'll find which has stages which can take a traveler on a "tour" of the city. The intercache idea would be another good way to create a similar experience and anyone with a smart phone and a decent data plan would able to discover hidden gems around a city while traveling around the U.S. However, once one leaves the country, that changes, as those data plans don't extend across international borders. If someone wants to access the internet with a smart phone while traveling abroad there are a few options, but unless one buys a local SIM card *and* a local data plan, data roaming charges typically can run up to $20 per megabyte of data. Turning on data roaming in order to find a multi-stage intercache could get real expensive, and it's the kind of location based game that would be ideal for traveling. Of course, this is not unique to intercache, but any location based game that requires access to the internet.

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The intercache idea would be another good way to create a similar experience and anyone with a smart phone and a decent data plan would able to discover hidden gems around a city while traveling around the U.S. However, once one leaves the country, that changes, as those data plans don't extend across international borders.

 

I admit that I have unlimited data so data use isn't generally a concern to me. However, the site is optimized for mobile use so data usage should be pretty small. But cache creators can put whatever HTML, images, sound, video, etc ... that they want at each stage, so if it isn't kept simple then data usage would certainly go up.

 

Turning on data roaming in order to find a multi-stage intercache could get real expensive, and it's the kind of location based game that would be ideal for traveling. Of course, this is not unique to intercache, but any location based game that requires access to the internet.

 

A client of mine creates mobile cell phone tours, the type you would see at museums, zoos, parks, etc ... They are pretty much completely web based, but international travel hasn't really concerned them too much as far as losing potential users. It's an issue, but probably not as big as one would expect.

 

Many new players use their phone exclusively for caching, mostly using "on line" mode. But the advantage that the GS app has, or any other app, is that they can download PQs so searching can be done in off-line mode. I assume a certain percentage of international travelers do that.

 

As I don't have a native app, that isn't as easy an option. There are a couple things I could do, involving download the page and any data it needs ahead of time, so that it could be used in an offline mode, but some capabilities I plan on adding wouldn't make the trip.

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My previous comment was not intended to criticize intercaches, but to respond to the question if it would be replacing Wherigos soon. Most any smartphone with a true GPS receiver will also have a Wherigo player. I know there are exceptions (is there one for the Blackberry?), but I think the exceptions are very few.

 

I honestly do hope that this idea catches on, Wherigo has remained stagnant for too long. I'm sure that given enough time and enough dedication from ChileHead, any problems could be resolved. Wherigo initially didn't catch on as only people with specific Garmins, or specific GPS enabled PDAs could play. Smartphones have changed that and now we are seeing Wherigos popping up everywhere. I would imagine that Intercaches would eventually catch on as internet becomes more available and reliable, or an offline mode is created. Heck, it might become popular enough for Groundspeak to buy out and make it an official part of Geocaching.com. :D

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My only concern so far, (assuming I understand the Intercache concept), is that it likely won't work in most of the places I like to play Wherigo cartridges. Specifically, way deep in the woods/swamps, far from reliable cell phone coverage.

 

I'm wondering if it would be possible to have the Intercache concept less reliant on continuous connectivity? Something like a download? The GPS function of most smart phones these days still works even if signal is lost, so players who downloaded the adventure to their phone could still play, even if they lost signal.

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I honestly do hope that this idea catches on, Wherigo has remained stagnant for too long. I'm sure that given enough time and enough dedication from ChileHead, any problems could be resolved.

 

My main issue with wherigos was that the builder was difficult to use, and the average person would have a hard time creating one. The idea with this was to create a very much simplified alternative, that allows for creation of virtual locations and simple question/answers. I do plan on adding time restrictions, some simple sort of inventory, etc ... No programming will be required, pretty much just an extension of what I have now:

- walk around

- click a button to create a stop/waypoint

- enter in an optional question/answer

- modify the radius required to "move forward"

- repeat

 

Post creation, the waypoints can be connected in any arbitrary order to create a linear game (A -> B -> C -> Final) or non linear game (where you can go from A to multiple stops, and so on, to create a "make your own adventure" type game.)

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My only concern so far, (assuming I understand the Intercache concept), is that it likely won't work in most of the places I like to play Wherigo cartridges. Specifically, way deep in the woods/swamps, far from reliable cell phone coverage.

 

I'm wondering if it would be possible to have the Intercache concept less reliant on continuous connectivity? Something like a download? The GPS function of most smart phones these days still works even if signal is lost, so players who downloaded the adventure to their phone could still play, even if they lost signal.

 

Currently it does require an internet connection, at least to advance from one stop to another. If you are simply navigating from one stop to another, then it will use your GPS. But once you enter the radius of the stop and answer the (optional) question, it needs to go to a web server to get the next stop's information.

 

Some of this I could make work by downloading everything all at once, but it would involve a little more work and would make it easier to cheat for those that wanted to. It's still easy to cheat in some parts, but I'm not going to worry about that.

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I see some comments here querying mobile connectivity out in the field. My reasoning is that if people create Intercaches using their smartphone, they will only do so where there is signal (otherwise they could not do so in the first place.)

 

I guess it's the same when a cache is placed. If there is no good signal for the G.P.S. receiver, then the cache is less likely to be placed (as the coordinates needed for publicationcould not be determined).

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When building a game, would I need to be onsite? Or could I do the majority of the work from home, on my desktop, then field test it with my phone?

 

Either way. I've only built one so far. I found it easiest to use the app when making it to create the locations, but finish at home when entering the html and connecting locations together.

 

I'm very unlikely to type up html in the field. :)

 

After you have your locations marked, you can connect them together in any order you want.

 

For example, if you created 4 waypoints A, B, C, D, you could make a linear:

A -> B -> C -> D

or

B -> A -> D -> C

(you get the idea)

 

or a somewhat non linear:

A -> (B C or D)

B -> (A B or D)

C -> (A B or C)

D -> (A B or C)

where each stop would give you part of the final coordinates E

 

Lots of ways to put them together. I want to try the choose your own adventure style next.

 

If you end up trying to make one, I do recommend having questions on at least some of the stages otherwise it can be cheated via some web magic.

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I see some comments here querying mobile connectivity out in the field. My reasoning is that if people create Intercaches using their smartphone, they will only do so where there is signal (otherwise they could not do so in the first place.)

 

I guess it's the same when a cache is placed. If there is no good signal for the G.P.S. receiver, then the cache is less likely to be placed (as the coordinates needed for publicationcould not be determined).

not really the same problem as placing a cache. We all use GPS signals from the same satellites, but we all get our internet from different providers. For example, anyone with Verizon can get internet in the Ocala National Forest, but for some reason, other providers do not have coverage there. Any Intercache there would only be playable by phones with one carrier. Also, not everyone has internet available all the time on their phones. Some have a limited plan, or choose to use Wifi only. Not a problem if you can pre-download all the files at home on your home wifi, then play offline.

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Having shelved my one attempt at creating a Wherigo because of the clunky builder, this looks very cool.

 

Wish I was closer to Fairport to test this out. (By sheer coincidence, that's exactly where my mom is from.)

 

I may have to give one a go when we get settled in Oklahoma.

 

This seems like a logical step in the spirit of Wherigo, I hope that the powers that be continue to encourage this. Meanwhile, keep up the good work.

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I have one in the works, tried to do similar Wherigo but just gave up on that a few years back. When I first heard of the Intercaches I knew it would work out. I'm just waiting for permission to place the container. It was an easy process to set one up but allows for a lot of creativity. I'm looking forward to doing several more.

Thanks for developing this!

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I just heard about this today and think it sounds interesting.

Like others, I started a Wherigo a long time ago and the builder was just too frustrating to deal with.

I like that no special equip is needed other than a smartphone with internet connection.

 

I think I'll work on one in a few weeks when I have some time.

 

I was looking online at the list of existing Intercaches. It would be nice if you could somehow see where each was without actually entering it and then having to cancel back to the beginning to look at the next. I have no way of knowing if any are near me but I seriously doubt it.

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I was looking online at the list of existing Intercaches. It would be nice if you could somehow see where each was without actually entering it and then having to cancel back to the beginning to look at the next. I have no way of knowing if any are near me but I seriously doubt it.

 

Good idea. I could put a bearing and distance to the start of each intercache from your current location, similar to this:

http://www.intercaching.com/geotours

 

Note that the list is not all the intercaches; creators have the option of deciding if the cache should display in the global list or not.

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Do you have a set of screenshots of a mock intercache? It would be interesting to see what the stages look like on an iphone.

 

I don't currently. I have a video made with the older version of the app, but it has a different look and feel now and is hosted elsewhere. But you can get a feel for it from this:

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Do you have a set of screenshots of a mock intercache? It would be interesting to see what the stages look like on an iphone.

 

I don't currently. I have a video made with the older version of the app, but it has a different look and feel now and is hosted elsewhere. But you can get a feel for it from this:

 

Thanks for the video. There's a sculpture garden I might try this out on but first I have to figure out where to hide a swag-size cache.

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I was looking online at the list of existing Intercaches. It would be nice if you could somehow see where each was without actually entering it and then having to cancel back to the beginning to look at the next. I have no way of knowing if any are near me but I seriously doubt it.

 

Good idea. I could put a bearing and distance to the start of each intercache from your current location, similar to this:

http://www.intercaching.com/geotours

 

Note that the list is not all the intercaches; creators have the option of deciding if the cache should display in the global list or not.

 

Yes! That's nice. How about re-sorting by distance once the location is known?

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Just had a play with it...nice.

 

Like most I'd thought about making a Wherigo cache, but the interface was too much like hard work. Plus the incompatibility of the readers.

 

Problem I've noticed is that as its browser based, it often displays the browser page it has cached if you try to play again.

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Android 4.1, it happens both with the stock browser and Opera Mobile.

 

I don't run opera, but I do run the stock and chrome.

 

When you say "it often displays the browser page it has cached if you try to play again" what does that mean? If you play an intercache and come back to it later, it will try and resume where you left off. So if you were half way through one and started again, it will pick up there. Eventually the session times out and it will start back out at step 1 (not sure how many hours that is.)

 

Is this what you are seeing or is it something different? There is an option at the bottom to reset to the beginning if you want to force it.

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Actually it's not a cache issue as if I clear the cache on either browser I get the same issue.

 

When I try to run a Intercache, even after clearing the cache the first stage is the one I was last at.

 

Maybe it's a good thing as when playing to can go back to where you was, I just noticed as I was testing.

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Actually it's not a cache issue as if I clear the cache on either browser I get the same issue.

 

When I try to run a Intercache, even after clearing the cache the first stage is the one I was last at.

 

Maybe it's a good thing as when playing to can go back to where you was, I just noticed as I was testing.

 

That's intentional, if I'm understanding the issue. This will let you close the browser, switch apps, and come back in, and as long as it hasn't been too long (I'll have to look up the default timeout), you will come back into where you started. In order to play another intercache before the timeout you'll have to select the reset to beginning link. I think I lied ... it says reset to beginning but I think it's actually a reset to the list of intercaches.

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I don't remember seeing a Reset....

 

....but when I went to the site again it looked different and couldn't see my intercache. Looks like I made it on the old site, which is the first Google hit on the search 'intercache'.

Maybe worth just putting a redirect to the new site?

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I don't remember seeing a Reset....

 

....but when I went to the site again it looked different and couldn't see my intercache. Looks like I made it on the old site, which is the first Google hit on the search 'intercache'.

Maybe worth just putting a redirect to the new site?

 

Yeah, I was planning on doing that but was having trouble rebuilding the old app as I changed a number of things on my computer since I last deployed it.

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Wherigo has remained stagnant? Tell that to those in Europe they have went nuts using Wherigo. I have 43 Wherigo caches and they all work just fine. And yes the builder program is not very good. I use urwigo it works perfect once you learn how to use it.

 

Absolutely agree. Urwigo is so easy to use to make Wherigos. I own 3 Wherigo, one of which has characters, items, and tasks. Can intercaches have characters, items, and tasks?

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I've been playing around with a few test intercaches of my own. I LOVE the simple layout but I am having trouble getting the navigation to work correctly on my iPhone 5. It's like the iPhone is not receiving the data to update the navigation display on the screen. It frequently shows an accuracy of 1-3 MILES! :o My iPhone works perfectly fine for finding caches with the Geocaching.com app. I did get data to update correctly once and the page worked correctly.

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I've been playing around with a few test intercaches of my own. I LOVE the simple layout but I am having trouble getting the navigation to work correctly on my iPhone 5. It's like the iPhone is not receiving the data to update the navigation display on the screen. It frequently shows an accuracy of 1-3 MILES! :o My iPhone works perfectly fine for finding caches with the Geocaching.com app. I did get data to update correctly once and the page worked correctly.

 

Sounds like geolocation was disabled for my site on your phone. I'm not an iPhone user, but I verified this solution on my wife's phone after denying geolocation to my site and it seemed to work:

 

Go to Settings --> General --> Reset --> Reset Location & Privacy

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