+troudadour281 Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 Hello all, Im pretty new the this so any info is appreciated. So my question is about geoart. I have a few by my house that we tried but i don't know if i just don't understand or if i'm missing something. How do they work? What do i do? I tried to track the ones on the road but majority of the caches are on private property. Quote Link to comment
+ecanderson Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 Geoart is the practice of laying out caches so that, when viewed on big map scale, they portray some kind of picture. Could be a heart, a logo, or whatever. None of them should be located on private property without permission. That's one reason they're typically quite large -- that gives the owner a lot of road space to create the shape. Can you give us a couple of GC codes so we can look at what you are seeing? 1 Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 (edited) 27 minutes ago, troudadour281 said: Hello all, Im pretty new the this so any info is appreciated. So my question is about geoart. I have a few by my house that we tried but i don't know if i just don't understand or if i'm missing something. How do they work? What do i do? I tried to track the ones on the road but majority of the caches are on private property. If the icon is a question mark make sure you solve the puzzle to know where the final cache is located. The geoart near you seem to be puzzle caches. I remember them from a previous forum discussion. Edited September 9, 2020 by Max and 99 1 1 Quote Link to comment
+troudadour281 Posted September 9, 2020 Author Share Posted September 9, 2020 Thanks for the quick replies. I have a few GC codes. GC8QWA3 GC8QWB2 GC8QWB6 This one is in my back yard Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 (edited) 38 minutes ago, troudadour281 said: Thanks for the quick replies. I have a few GC codes. GC8QWA3 GC8QWB2 GC8QWB6 This one is in my back yard Yep, it's a puzzle cache, so you'll need to solve the puzzle to determine the location of the cache. We can't help you, but the CO might be willing to. Be aware of the theme of the series, and the D rating, which may be helpful in solving the puzzles. Edited September 9, 2020 by Max and 99 1 Quote Link to comment
+ecanderson Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 Wow -- all done with puzzles. That should keep you busy for a while! Looking at the first one (GC8QWA3), I think I know how I would go about solving that one, but we aren't allowed to give those kinds of hints here. Here's what the 'art' looks like. Seems they have several still in process. Quote Link to comment
+barefootjeff Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 2 hours ago, troudadour281 said: I tried to track the ones on the road but majority of the caches are on private property. Since they're mystery caches, the only thing on private property is the ? symbol on the map. The actual cache will be somewhere else at the coordinates obtained by solving the puzzle. 1 Quote Link to comment
+niraD Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 3 hours ago, Max and 99 said: Yep, it's a puzzle cache, so you'll need to solve the puzzle to determine the location of the cache. 2 hours ago, ecanderson said: Wow -- all done with puzzles. 1 hour ago, barefootjeff said: The actual cache will be somewhere else at the coordinates obtained by solving the puzzle. Others have referred to section 2-D of the geocaching.com terms of use, which say, "You agree not to: [...] xxiii. Publish on our websites the solutions, hints, spoilers, or any hidden coordinates for any geocache without consent from the geocache owner.” However, here are some general puzzle tips (based in part on a puzzle-solving class event presented by The Rat a while ago): Identify the theme. Check the cache title, the hint, the HTML source, the graphics (including names/URLs), any links (including URLs), whatever is at the posted coordinates, etc. If you can figure out the theme, then you should look for numbering systems that are associated with that theme (zip codes, athletes’ jersey numbers, episode numbers, product codes, etc.). Around here, coordinates will have 15 digits, and will look like "N 35° xx.xxx W 084° xx.xxx". So when I'm solving a nearby puzzle, I look for a group of 15 things, and then I look for ways to get the digits 35xxxxx084xxxxx from them. In general, I look for ways to get the number 35 (or the digits 3 and 5) from something near the beginning of the puzzle, and the number 084 (or the digits 0, 8, and 4) from something near the middle of the puzzle. (Of course, you'll need to adjust this for the coordinates near you.) If you ask the cache owner for a hint, then be sure to mention the approaches you have tried so far, and the results those approaches have yielded. It can also be helpful to work together with others who are trying to solve the same puzzle. Geocaching events are a good place to meet other geocachers; ask around to see if anyone else is trying to solve the same puzzle(s) as you. Other useful resources include: How to solve Mystery Caches (also known as Puzzle Caches) (blog post) Puzzle Solving 101 Series (bookmark list) Calgary Puzzle Solving 101 (bookmark list) Puzzle Shortcuts Series (bookmark list) Solving Puzzle Caches (online article) How Do I Solve All These &#$@! Puzzle Caches? (tutorial-style puzzle cache) Geocaching Toolbox ("All geocaching tools a geocacher needs in one box.") Puzzle FUNdamentals (archived event cache) and the Puzzle FUNdamentals resources on the GeocacheAlaska! education page The GBA's Puzzle Cache FAQ (for puzzle designers, but useful for understanding how puzzle caches work) LANAKI's Classical Cryptography Course How to Puzzle Cache (book) Quote Link to comment
+ecanderson Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 One bit of fair help I can provide ... if the OP hasn't ever run across Certitude before: For the GC codes you provided (part of the Boat series), be aware that the Certitude checker being used on those cache pages can accept not just coordinates but words as well. A lot of finders who have only used the geocaching.com checker aren't aware of that. 1 2 Quote Link to comment
+CheekyBrit Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 I have plans to make a geoart of the British flag. It'd be made of 72 multi caches of various puzzle types, and 44 challenge caches. That's a grand total of 188 containers, including 116 final containers with logs. Before I go bonkers getting all the materials for this, do any of you see any HQ opposition to a flag geo-art? I'm in the USA by the way..... Someone is welcome to do a USA flag but it'd take several hundred caches to make it look right. 1 Quote Link to comment
+TriciaG Posted October 19, 2021 Share Posted October 19, 2021 22 hours ago, CheekyBrit said: Before I go bonkers getting all the materials for this, do any of you see any HQ opposition to a flag geo-art? I'm in the USA by the way..... No, I see no opposition. They allow geo-art, and the British flag isn't obscene or otherwise objectionable these days. 1 Quote Link to comment
+CAVinoGal Posted October 19, 2021 Share Posted October 19, 2021 22 hours ago, CheekyBrit said: I have plans to make a geoart of the British flag. It'd be made of 72 multi caches of various puzzle types, and 44 challenge caches. That's a grand total of 188 containers, including 116 final containers with logs. I admire your ambition! 1 1 Quote Link to comment
+Isonzo Karst Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 (edited) On 10/18/2021 at 7:50 PM, CheekyBrit said: 72 multi caches of various puzzle types I'd expect your flag to be fine. Your multi-caches must actually be multi-caches. That means that a visit to the posted coords is necessary to working out the final. Not a projection or a puzzle cache mis-characterized as multi. LINKY Edited October 20, 2021 by Isonzo Karst 2 1 Quote Link to comment
+Lynx Humble Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 4 hours ago, Isonzo Karst said: I'd expect your flag to be fine. Your multi-caches must actually be multi-caches. That means that a visit to the posted coords is necessary to working out the final. Not a projection or a puzzle cache mis-characterized as multi. LINKY That guideline is utterly stupid. Why it's OK for a normal multi but not if part of a geoart. Quote Link to comment
+CAVinoGal Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 The way I'm reading it, Isonzo Karst's information is the guideline is for regular multi, whether part of a geo art or not: You need to visit the posted coordinates to work out the final. With a puzzle, you don't necessarily have to visit posted coordinates. 2 1 Quote Link to comment
+Lynx Humble Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 43 minutes ago, CAVinoGal said: The way I'm reading it, Isonzo Karst's information is the guideline is for regular multi, whether part of a geo art or not: You need to visit the posted coordinates to work out the final. With a puzzle, you don't necessarily have to visit posted coordinates. Your link is broken are you referring to this? https://www.geocaching.com/help/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=127&pgid=559 The multi projection only says you need bearing and distance from a stage. Your stage can be virtual so no real need to physically visit GZ to get the final coordinates. Quote Link to comment
+MtnGoat50 Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 2 hours ago, CAVinoGal said: You need to visit the posted coordinates to work out the final. With a puzzle, you don't necessarily have to visit posted coordinates. That's the way I see it too. For a multi-cache it says: (the bolding is mine) Quote If the cache includes a projection, the projection must be calculated in the field using bearing and distance from one of the stages. For mystery cache it says: (again the bolding is mine) Quote If the cache includes a projection, the projection may be calculated based on the posted coordinates without visiting the location. I think the intention is that, with a multicache, there is something to actually find at the posted location; a stature, a sign, a monument... whatever, that you make the projection from. With a mystery cache the coordinates are just coordinates, a random location, nothing to find, no reason to go there. 2 Quote Link to comment
+Isonzo Karst Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 3 hours ago, Lynx Humble said: The multi projection only says you need bearing and distance from a stage. Your stage can be virtual so no real need to physically visit multi-cache as defined in the guidelines Linky says of stages, " At each stage, the geocacher gathers information ". If you don't need to visit, it's not a "stage". There can be a projection within a multi-cache. Go here, read sign, take number X from sign, go X feet due north for the next stage/final. 1 1 Quote Link to comment
+CheekyBrit Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 All of the multi caches in the flag geo-art will have a physical container at posted coordinates including something that relates to the puzzle on the cache page (track numbers from albums, names of British monarchs in line of succession, countries in the British commonwealth picked from a list...) and then the puzzle reveals the final coordinates. I DO have a multi cache that has a "virtual" first stage, but it is listed as such because I didn't place anything there. Instead, numbers from a sign are sought at the location and you need to visit it (google street view doesn't reach the sign in question). So hopefully through personal example that clarifies the regulation of needing to visit the first location if it is a multi cache (geo-art or not) and it can be a virtual stage if needs be. Great conversation here. It seems like everyone is trying their best to follow the guidelines and keep the game going. If only non-geocaching conversations could be as civil. 1 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment
+CheekyBrit Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 On 10/19/2021 at 4:28 PM, CAVinoGal said: I admire your ambition! I like to go big, mostly because you hide what you like and I like when other people go big. You should see some of the bonkers caches I've done. Quite a few rock climbing / rappelling ones. 1 Quote Link to comment
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