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Great Multicache ideas


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Looking for inspiration to create great multicaches in my area. More specifically, I'd like to stay away from the standard "count the number of bolts and fill in the formula". Looking to be different here!

 

I've created a cache of the type "follow a trail of pictures" (e.g. https://coord.info/GC129P7) which I get very positive response about. Another cache of mine asks the cacher to find the cache at a given distance from image locations that need to be found first (e.g. https://coord.info/GC17HVF).

 

Suggestions welcome!

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I've enjoyed a number of multi-caches that provided me with a walking tour of an area. Each stage was a point of interest (historical, artistic, ecological, whatever) and provided a bit of information needed to find the final. This can be tailored to fit the number of interesting waypoints. With six, each can provide a digit in the form N 35° 55.ABC W 084° 02.DEF. With eight, each can provide a digit in the form N 35° 5A.BCD W 084° 0E.FGH. And so on. I've done one multi-cache where there were 15 waypoints, one for each digit.
 

I've also enjoyed multi-stage puzzle caches, where each stage leads you to another puzzle of some sort. Some of these have been night caches as well.

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This one of mine probably wouldn't be considered great but it's a bit different to most of the multis I've done. The Lost Sheriff of Middle Sea County (GC664DZ) starts with the remains of the sheriff's campfire at the listed coordinates:

 

image.png.64ea97c810b5a0aebc502cd7bfd0a761.png

 

The coordinates of the second stage are written on the underside of the log, leading up into a gully past several waterfalls. At each waypoint is an object the missing sheriff has dropped with a laminated tag providing more of the story and the coordinates of the next stage. At the final, the front page of the logbook reveals the story's surprise ending of what has become of the sheriff. In the container there's also a bag of sheriff badges to pick from as a souvenir of the adventure.

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10 minutes ago, barefootjeff said:

This one of mine probably wouldn't be considered great but it's a bit different to most of the multis I've done.

Ah, yes. I've found a few "story" multi-caches too, where each stage takes you to another location that is significant to the story. Those can be really interesting.

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18 minutes ago, barefootjeff said:

...written on the underside of the log...

 

Do you have many issues with maintenance? Maybe it's my "everything burns" Australian mentality, but I would have thought that a log like that might get muggled quite easily. Or is it artificial? Around here, I could totally see it working though I'd make the log out of plaster or cement to help it last longer.

 

Edit: it's a NSW cache, and from reading up it looks like most of the maintenance is more due to park closures. I like it!

Edited by Unit473L
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12 minutes ago, Unit473L said:

Do you have many issues with maintenance? Maybe it's my "everything burns" Australian mentality, but I would have thought that a log like that might get muggled quite easily. Or is it artificial? Around here, I could totally see it working though I'd make the log out of plaster or cement to help it last longer.

 

It's around wetlands so rot is more of a concern than burning, in fact it's already into its second log as the first one rotted away after a few years. I gave the present one a few coats of an oil-based sealant and it seems to be standing up okay. The campfire is in amongst the scrub in a place no-one would ever consider making a fire so muggling isn't too much of a concern and it can be easily replaced if that does happen. Early on I did have one of the other waypoints muggled so I put its replacement in a more obscure spot and it's been fine ever since.

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The multicache I would like to have published, but can't, as I don't live near this site, was in a country town (lots of through traffic though, including holiday traffic). A HUGE collection of tractors and other old machinery lined the road for a considerable distance. Imagine a multi based around that. I could evil.

I would have started off the WPs with a VERY easy search, but each stage would have got harder, until the last WP (many later) where you would almost have to dismantle a tractor to find the clue.

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1 hour ago, Goldenwattle said:

I would have started off the WPs with a VERY easy search, but each stage would have got harder, until the last WP (many later) where you would almost have to dismantle a tractor to find the clue.

 

I expect it wouldn't be long until the last tractor was just a pile of disassembled bits :laughing:.

 

Looking at the 21 multis I've given FPs to, they're mostly ones that have led me on an interesting, enjoyable journey that took considerable time and effort to complete. One of the most memorable is the now-archived Valley of the Falls which was a beautiful full-day hike in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.  Others that stand out are the three on Lord Howe Island (GC5KKQ8GC5J7G7 and GC5K9KJ) which showcase much of the island's history and stunning natural beauty, Boudi Peninsular along some rugged coastline near home and Ferry McFerrycache that took me four days and numerous Sydney Harbour ferry trips to complete.

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I don't know that it's "great," but different from the usual. As a finder, not a hider, I've done one where the first stage held several sets of coordinates (four? six? eight?). The geocacher's job was to figure out which of them was the final location. Most were plausible possibilities. If the red herrings take a person to scenic/historic spots, cachers won't be too annoyed at guessing wrong and "wasting" time.

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24 minutes ago, msrubble said:

I don't know that it's "great," but different from the usual. As a finder, not a hider, I've done one where the first stage held several sets of coordinates (four? six? eight?). The geocacher's job was to figure out which of them was the final location. Most were plausible possibilities. If the red herrings take a person to scenic/historic spots, cachers won't be too annoyed at guessing wrong and "wasting" time.

I've done a multicache with two alternative coordinates for each stage.  One set of coordinates would take you to the wrong place, with a hint there that it was wrong (and so go to the other coordinates), such as a stop sign, or keep out sign (that sort of thing).

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I'm a multicache fan, and have found quite a lot of them. I'm going to describe two outstanding cache designs, which I have seen over the years, and which came to my mind when reading the OP.

 

#1 The multi-path multicache

The cache had a story, like you're an adventurer and are searching a treasure. At each stage, you find a box, which continues the story and often gives you more than one option how to proceed. Like, say, you meet a dwarf, which tells you that either the witch in the forest or the troll at the bridge might help you - and you get two sets of coordinates, one for the witch and one for the troll. Sometimes, you get only one coordinate, but you have to solve a small riddle for them. The story included "dead ends", where you are just sent back to where you've bee before (and where you then take the alternate continuation option). Depending on your decisions, you could reach the final pretty quickly ... or not so quickly ;) Playing this with my son (13 years old at the time), we had really a lot of fun. We found the final pretty soon, but then tracked back to explore each and every path which the multi offered.

 

#2 Funny car navigation

A multicache specifically designed to be done by car. At the starting coordinates, you get an audio track. Nowadays, this would typically be an internet link to play or download an MP3. You play this MP3 and listen to the voice of a "navigation system", which gives you driving instructions. The instructions are timed in a way, that you have to drive exactly at the posted speed limit (unless told otherwise). You either follow back roads with very sparse traffic, or the whole thing is designed as a night cache. where traffic is usually always low. During the trip, you collect numbers (like e.g. "The distance in km to the next town on the sign you're passing"), and at the end you are directed to a parking lot to calculate the final location from these numbers. So far, the concept doesn't sound too exciting, but in the three caches of this type which I've played, the navigation device's ramblings were extremely funny up to point of total hilarity :) ! So you try to somehow concentrate on what you're told to do, while at the same time you and your buddies in the car are laughing their a** off.

Needless to say, creating such a cache is a tremendous amount of work, and can be a maintenance nightmare.

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It's pretty limited only by your creativity with regard to incorporating ideas in order to come up with some sort of variety or unique factor to your multi.

 

One thing I try to do with each multi I have out (when I can) is to come up with one special stage that stands out from the rest, for whatever reason that might be.  Sometimes it's the location and sometimes it's the container at the stage.  Here in Indiana we don't have a lot of climbing caches due to a lot of the area being farmland so I try to find trees that are somewhat "easy" to climb with lower limbs but ones that can still go up at least 20 feet.  I have one that takes you to a tree for each stage and some are climbers while others are at the base.  It's usually pretty easy to tell which type of hide it is, but one or two are a bit ambiguous.  I have a couple history based multi caches (one for a hospital for the insane and one in my city that takes you to plaques memorializing some historical aspect of the town.  I have one in Japanese that starts out in a Japanese garden and ends just a short distance away.  I found a set of candlesticks at a Goodwill store and made use of them as the first field puzzle stage in one of my multis.  I got permission from a parks department to create a multi that takes you to just about every location in the park with a variety of sizes of containers and a few virtual stages as well.  I do have a UV one (per the recent thread).  I have a "Choose your own adventure" (mentioned already) that at every stage (36 I think) there are 4 coordinates, each of which has a container with 4 more coordinates (and so on and so forth) but there's only one right path that will get you from the start to the final in 5 stages.  Needless to say, that one doesn't get found often.  I have one that makes use of dog tags in a variety of ways that aren't typical.  A library cache multi with an approved final stage inside that's a book (entered into the catalog by the library as well).  I also just have some "simple" multis that have you do the fill in the blank math to get to the final.

 

There are so many things you can do but you have to be certain that it's what you want to create.  The biggest issue I have, besides the fact that they don't get found nearly as frequently as traditional caches, is maintenance.  For the most part, I've managed to keep things from getting taken.  Those stages that might have a tendency to go MIA are usually containers I can easily and cheaply replace (I bought a large order) but even those are hidden in a manner that tends to keep them in place.  Those "special" containers/caches for each multi I've created that have them have one extra ready to go.  Once that one is gone, I tend to archive the multi (or any cache for that matter) unless it's one that holds some significance to me.

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On 8/8/2020 at 11:54 PM, Goldenwattle said:

I've done a multicache with two alternative coordinates for each stage.  One set of coordinates would take you to the wrong place, with a hint there that it was wrong (and so go to the other coordinates), such as a stop sign, or keep out sign (that sort of thing).

I did one like that once.  I went to the wrong set of coordinates the first time then had to get back home.  I never did get back to finish it before it was archived.

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I like multies in general, but for me there needs to be a reason for them. Thus not just walking from a to be and c for no apparent reason other than having a multi. Either there's something to see at the stations or it leads the way to a nice hike with good views or something else of interest. Also, I'm not keen on multies that have convoluted end coordinates like 

N xx° (A+B+D+E) . (J+R+B)*((D+K)*(J+N))+(D*Q)+B E 00x° (R+D) . ((M+C)*L))*(K*L)+N

or multies where you don't see the coordinates along the way but have to solve every stage first. (sorry for the bold. Looks like the forum software doesn't let me switch this off when some bold text was copied from elsewhere)

 

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2 hours ago, terratin said:

...when some bold text was copied from elsewhere

 

I've come across this before, and found that pasting it into either a text file on a laptop or my note taking app (may vary between apps and phones) will strip out formatting. Just need to paste it into the format stripper, then copy it again and paste it where it needs to go.

 

I haven't done a multi yet, so I'll stay out of the main conversation. :) 

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I like multi caches very much (that's the best cache type for me) and so I own some, too. Pardon, most of the linked caches are German speaking!

As finder (and owner) I like several things which make a multi cache memorable:


1) It has a nice hiking trail with good views and interesting things to spot, e. g. an old castle or great nature. Two weeks ago I searched for https://coord.info/GCW2QB which had this in connection with point 2 - simple but great. The final doesn't have to be extra-ordinary than - just a solid box at a solid place.
=> If I don't expect these things that's even better. I still remember https://coord.info/GCK2H9 (I've been there almost 10 years ago!): you walk around a corner in a quite normal area just to have a great view on a hidden valley you didn't expect to find here. You have to explore this afterwards.


2) I like an interesting task along the way. This may be a picture search thing or some nice puzzles to solve with physical stages. They don't have to be too hard but I like a good challenge.


3) I like a good storyline. That's rare nowadays I feel. I own a night cache where I tell the story via pdf files which you have to decrypt with information found outside. https://coord.info/GC7ZRP3 is the continuation of the first part and it continues the story. (Just doing a little advertisement. ;-))


4) I like new ideas - things I haven't seen before (<- that's great) or at least which haven't seen 10 times in the past year.


5) I like multi caches that challenge body - terrain 4 plus (but not just the normal up and down terrain 5) - and/or brain. I've done many night caches of this type. Doing those with friends is great - alone may be a little frustrating. ;-)


6) Of course I like any kind of electronical devices. But as those caches usually get more favourite points than others I have to say that I prefer the other things over this point - technical things are just a nice add-on.

 

There is sure more what makes a multi cache a "better than standard" one. I like the normal "look and count" multis, too, but obviously I don't remember them as well as others and they usually don't go to my favourites list.

 

Best wishes

Jochen

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3 hours ago, Unit473L said:
5 hours ago, terratin said:

...when some bold text was copied from elsewhere

 

I've come across this before, and found that pasting it into either a text file on a laptop or my note taking app (may vary between apps and phones) will strip out formatting. Just need to paste it into the format stripper, then copy it again and paste it where it needs to go.

 

You may also be able to right-click in your browser, and one of the options will be "Paste and Match Style" or something similar.

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5 hours ago, terratin said:

Also, I'm not keen on [...] multies where you don't see the coordinates along the way but have to solve every stage first

In contrast, some of my favorites have been multies (and multi-stage puzzles) where each stage provides the location of the next.

 

At some point, as a cache owner, you have to decide what kind of cache you want to create, own, and maintain. It doesn't have to be something that everyone finds interesting. In fact, it probably won't be. It probably can't be.

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