Notpron?

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Notpron?
OP - March 03, 2015, 04:40 PM

Way back when I first began to shrink away from the outdoors and all of its fresh air and sunlight to become glued to the internet (let's say 2004 or 2005), there was this browser-based riddle game that was pretty popular at the time.

To my 14-15 year old brain, it was pretty much impossible to get more than three levels in, and I gave it up, but I remembered it to this day as that cool browser game that was way over my head. But I never remembered the name, and my google searches of "old browser puzzle game" or whatever I had searched for in the past few years never turned up the same site.

Today, "The hardest riddle available on the internet" was on the front page of reddit, and I idly clicked it, and lo and behold, there was notpron.

Good news is that it's still really cool. Bad news is that gone are the days when I could blame my youth on only getting to level 5. I'm still stuck on level 5 right now.

Apparently, the creator of notpron believes that it's probably impossible for a single person to get through the whole game without cheating, as it requires a lot of skills and sometimes even getting up from your computer and interacting with real objects to solve a level. Sometimes it requires downloading the picture and tinkering with it. Sometimes it requires going into the source code of the page and figuring something out there.

Some people with saint-like patience and the integrity to not cheat have reported spending months turning one level over and over in their heads, trying to figure out how to progress.

Point is, shut up and look at this: http://notpron.org/notpron/levelone.htm

If you get further than Level 5, no spoilers, and also I hate you. I'll figure it out. Give me ten more years.

Edit: I swear I meant I was stuck at level 5. What does it even want from me.
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Reply #1 - March 03, 2015, 11:43 PM

I'll have all of you know I'm on level 11 now. But that's where I'll stay, I guess, because I can't for the life of me figure this one out.

http://www.deathball.net/notpron/reality/mystery.htm
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Reply #2 - March 03, 2015, 11:52 PM

.

My mind runs, I can never catch it even if I get a head start.
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Reply #3 - March 03, 2015, 11:56 PM

Lua , I've got it. Want a hint?

My mind runs, I can never catch it even if I get a head start.
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Reply #4 - March 03, 2015, 11:58 PM

Did you look it up? You cheated last time we played a game!

But no! If you looked it up, no hints, just let me suffer. :(

Seriously, Qtian, I think you'd be good at this game. Apparently out of the like 2 million who have played only 30 something have won all of the levels. You should give it a shot.
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Reply #5 - March 04, 2015, 12:10 AM

I've got to level 6 already. I'm on my tablet though and it's starting to get annoying due to the small screen and interface, so I'm going to stop.

My mind runs, I can never catch it even if I get a head start.
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Reply #6 - March 04, 2015, 12:26 AM

Yeah, you're going to need to use a computer for the next few levels, I think.
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Reply #7 - March 04, 2015, 12:28 AM

Imo, bar the first level, the voodoo book level has been the easiest so far.

My mind runs, I can never catch it even if I get a head start.
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Reply #8 - March 04, 2015, 12:30 AM

My problem with that one was that I kept putting Simple Songs in one field and thought I had to find another term for the other field.
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Reply #9 - March 04, 2015, 01:58 AM

Beat this game via cheating the first time I played it many, many years ago. It is rather memorable and requires thinking outside the box, might give it a go this weekend!

Edit: Sans cheating of course.

Quote from: yeezevee on February 11, 2016, 02:05 PM
how fuck works without shit??

Let's Play Chess!

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Reply #10 - March 04, 2015, 02:00 AM

I didn't think it was possible to cheat through the last boards, at least back then, since few people won and talked about it. Did that change?
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Reply #11 - March 04, 2015, 03:19 AM

I'm pretty sure there's a walkthrough out there now.

Quote from: yeezevee on February 11, 2016, 02:05 PM
how fuck works without shit??

Let's Play Chess!

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Reply #12 - March 04, 2015, 03:32 AM

You actually might have completed an earlier version, then? I tried looking for a full walkthrough just now, and I can't find anything that gets up to 140 or even the 130's, but ones up to 80 or so. And if they're there, apparently they haven't been used more than two dozen times in ten years.

This was written in an interview with the creator in 2014:

Quote
Out of the 17 million players that have attempted the game in the last decade only 31 have completed it. That’s just one in every 550,000 players—or, to put it another way, the chances you'll be hit by lightning once in your lifetime are 41 times greater than they are for you solving Notpron.

This is also super interesting:

Quote
Yet only 31 have successfully completed all 140 levels—that’s a success rate of only 0.00018%. That low figure is all the more extraordinary considering the whole cottage industry of forums and sites that have sprung up offering advice and how-to’s to beat the game.

"I don't think anyone beat the game all alone, because you need to possess so many different skills, that it's nearly impossible for a single person," Münnich says. "Usually it's little groups of friends who beat it step by step [with] everyone’s strengths being put to use."

[...]

Those that complete the game are given a certificate that reads: "He/she persisted with a broad range of complex ways of thinking, while maintaining focus and dedication over a long period. His/her detective skills have been tested to the limits, yet the smallest hint proved sufficient to solve the most complicated tasks."

No certificates have been issued in 2014.

I'm serious when I say that I'm going to try to solve this game finally. I already got my first boyfriend on board. A two-man team so far, but we're gonna figure out notpron.
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Reply #13 - March 04, 2015, 03:49 AM

Sign me on board for after my exam on Friday. Might tell others too. I don't remember there being this many levels when I played back in the day, so yeah I probably beat an easier version.

Quote from: yeezevee on February 11, 2016, 02:05 PM
how fuck works without shit??

Let's Play Chess!

harakaat, friend, RIP
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Reply #14 - March 04, 2015, 07:10 AM

The old bf and I got to level 16 and then the site crashed. Apparently it wasn't ready for front page of reddit traffic in its old age. I think the guy who made it is still pretty internet active, so it'll probably be fixed, but for now we have to put aside our notpron goals. :(
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Reply #15 - March 04, 2015, 01:58 PM

I'm gonna try this tonight!

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Reply #16 - March 04, 2015, 02:25 PM

I've reached level 8. It's pretty hard, took me several minutes to get there...

I have played this before when I was younger so I do remember odd bits. I remember getting to level 21 (possibly higher), but I had to cheat a few times due to not possessing certain skills. I think level 8 was one of those but I'll try to do it properly this time.

Btw, despite this games title, there is actually pron on this game. You have to specifically go looking for it on some higher level. There's some incentive for you

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Reply #17 - March 04, 2015, 02:54 PM

Quote from: Ishtar90 on March 04, 2015, 01:58 PM
I'm gonna try this tonight!

It's a lot of fun, Ishtar! Join our team.

Peruvianskies, you sound really good at it, too. I'm at fifteen, I think my friend is at sixteen. Definitely farther than I got ten years ago. I did remember the Morse code level from back then, but everything else I've forgotten.

And I've heard that about notpron! Apparently all of a sudden it hits you with some mild NSFW shots.
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Reply #18 - March 04, 2015, 06:56 PM

Lol this is fun, I'm in level 5 now

edit: Level 8. This is getting more difficult lol.

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Reply #19 - March 04, 2015, 07:31 PM

Hint: Check the source code.

My mind runs, I can never catch it even if I get a head start.
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Reply #20 - March 04, 2015, 07:34 PM

Lol I did, I think I figured it out.

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Reply #21 - March 04, 2015, 07:41 PM

Jeezzzzzzzz, I feel really dumb
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Reply #22 - March 04, 2015, 07:44 PM

Quote from: Ishtar90 on March 04, 2015, 07:34 PM
Lol I did, I think I figured it out.

One of the MP3 files in the source code doesn't make any sense, figure out which one it is and then paste it into the url bar.

(If you haven't already)

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Reply #23 - March 04, 2015, 08:04 PM

Everyone, private message Ishtar if you want help with level 8 as she knows how to do it.

My mind runs, I can never catch it even if I get a head start.
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Reply #24 - March 04, 2015, 08:10 PM

Lol thank you Qtian

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Reply #25 - March 04, 2015, 09:43 PM

Quote from: Senga on March 04, 2015, 07:41 PM
Jeezzzzzzzz, I feel really dumb

I feel dumb the entire time I'm looking at a level, and then when I beat it I have a brief instant of imagining I am so brilliant that others must surely shrink away in shame, and then I realize I'm stuck on a new puzzle and Qtian and my friend and his mother and her dog are three puzzles ahead of me.

Also, no giving hints on our highest level, please! If we cheat it doesn't count, and cheating is for straight up suckers, because team asbie-lua-lua'sbf-ishtar-general population of CEMB-et al don't need cheats. We're going to win the old fashioned way and see the pron that peruvianskies promised awaits us.
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Reply #26 - March 04, 2015, 09:49 PM

Your buoyancy sickens me, dearest lua.

My mind runs, I can never catch it even if I get a head start.
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Reply #27 - March 04, 2015, 09:51 PM

That better be a genuine expression of disgust for me and not a hint!
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Reply #28 - March 04, 2015, 09:52 PM

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

No?

Good, because I can't be bothered.

My mind runs, I can never catch it even if I get a head start.
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Reply #29 - March 04, 2015, 09:54 PM

There's been worse versions of that I guess.
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