Ever stuck in a real life situation that called for an adventure game solution?

[Babar]

Hahaha...far too many of these real life puzzles seem to involve breaking into something.
I thought I had posted in this thread back when, but I guess I imagined it all....my story too is of the breaking into house variety. The house was locked, but I had a pair of handy-dandy pliers in the car. So what did I do? I undid all the nuts that were attaching my window bars to my window, lifted off the whole frame and jumped in.


...then I had to screw it all back in before anyone noticed .
Scary how easy it is to break into a house undetected.

[Creed Malay]

 Weird this thread should resurface today, just last night I got linked to this - http://thereifixedit.com/ - which is essentially a blog of real-life "combine-item" solutions to problems.

[monkey0506]

Scary how easy it is to break into a house undetected.

That was sort of my sentiment the whole time I was burglarizing my way into what presently serves as my own home. Most of the time we don't leave the windows open so I actually lucked out there.

I probably wouldn't have been able to wake him.

But yup, with the window opened (or unlocked even) it's just a simple matter of leverage getting that pesky screen out of the way.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I needed to pull some computer cables through a small hole in the back of my desk so I fashioned a hooky device from a coat hanger.  Worked great, too.  In fact, it made me



GAIN A LEVEL!  I am now a level 2 handyman.

[Snake]

This has got to be my favorite thread in the history of AGS forum... ness?

Lov ling-

-er...

Live long...

Long live?

Fuck it.

There was a real life adventure game puzzle that my daughter (1 year old at the time) had solved last year at the super market, but I can't be arsed to remember what it was. But it was great puzzle solving nonetheless.

[monkey0506]

I just remembered the time I locked the keys in (the ignition of) my parent's extended cab pickup truck. Brilliantly all the windows were shut tight except the passenger-side back window which was really just a flap that had the opening toward the rear of the vehicle.

So I searched through my inventory (the bed of the truck) and this is what I had: a stick and a couple of worn out pieces of bungee strap.

Talk to: passers-by.

Code: ags

cMonkey.AddInventory(iWireHanger);

Talk to: security guard.

Code: ags

cMonkey.AddInventory(iMetalRod);

Okay so now I had the best possible key grabbing device I could manage. I'd used the bungee straps to tie together the stick, the metal rod, and the wire hanger which was of course straightened (except the actual hook). And I was feeding this through the approximately two inch gap that I had to work with, up over the center console between the driver and passenger front seats, up to where the ignition switch was at (along with my keys).

A bit of clever maneuvering later and I had brilliantly tossed the keys directly into the center of the passenger side seat.

A bit more clever maneuvering, hanger bending, and talking to the now off-duty security guard and we were able to eventually hook the keys and feed them out the window (though I'm honestly still not sure how; and surprised we got it after I stupidly launched it into the worst possible location (except the glove box of course )).

In any case that 4 hour extravaganza was in fact rather wonderful and adventurey.

[Arboris]

spilled cola once over my laptop. I immediatly took out the keyboard (which are really thin) put it under  a copy machine so I knew where all the keys went, got a plastic coffee spoon from the schools kitchen, disassembled all the keys with said spoon  (which had a tiny hinge system inside them, a 150 in total i believe it was) cleaned up the (luckily flexible)  circuit board of the keyboard. And then put everything back together with the help of the photocopy I made earlier.

And it all worked out just fine. Usually cola means a certain death for your keyboard.

[InCreator]

Nothing special -- but last week, I got a piece of peanut from Snickers bar stuck between my teeth at work and it drove me crazy, so all kind of adventure-gameish solutions were tried to remove it:

improvised toothpicks of

* straightened paperclip (my 1st choice usually, but didn't work)
* straightened staple (almost worked)
* straightened spring from broken lighter (do not suggest)

Since it didn't work much, also, improvised floss was used, made of

* edge of standard copier paper (too soft: it got wet & damaged too quickly)
* edge of 290g Metalprint carton (too hard: my gum started to bleed)
* a piece of string which I got by sabotaging my jacket collar (finally worked)

...I really should buy some toothpicks and put into my work desk drawer  

[TerranRich]

That photocopy idea is brilliant, as both a real-life solution and as an adventure game puzzle solution.

[Helme]

I went outside, closed the door... and forgot my keys. Outside I saw my neighbor and asked for help. He told me it's easy the crack the door open without damaging it with a plastic card and pliers. Well, I found both items on the roof and it really worked.

[Snake]

Helme, maybe you can help me. I'm stuck at the same part except the neighbor doesn't seem to be any where around. What do I have to do to trigger this event?

I've walked around the house and interacted with everything, but to no avail. All I get are descriptions like, "It's the front door to my house. It's locked.", "That doesn't work.", "I can't do that with my bare hands.", "There's no reply.", "What would I do with it?" and "Bitching to yourself is a sign of madness.".

I currently have: My wallet, an acorn, a dime, a hot pocket, a pogo stick, a dirty sock, the anvil from upstairs and the extention cord from the garage. I've tried all these items on the other neighbors cat, but it keeps running away. Where is this neighbor you speak of??!1 Do I even have to do anything with the cat?

And why can't I pick up the pliers from the toolbox? I've got a goddamn anvil for christ sakes and I can't take the pliers before I talk to the neighbor??

Thanks in advance,


--Snake

[tzachs]

Ahhh, that old problem... here's how you do it:

Spoiler

First attach the sock to the stick. Use the extension cord on the cat to drive him away, then quickly close the gate so it doesn't return. Then you can put the sock in the neighbor's backyard with the stick (if the cat was there it would have taken it).
Now go to another place (say, the local bar, you can use the anvil there if you want but that's for another puzzle so I won't get into it) and return, the neighbor will be there, trying to figure out the source of the smell, and then you can talk to him...

About the toolbox, in order to open the toolbox you'll need the pliers...

Oh wait a minute, the pliers are in the toolbox? Something is not right here, probably a bug, you should try to restart...

[close]

[monkey0506]

Well, I found both items on the roof and it really worked.

The answer is right there...both items are on the roof and it really worked!

[Snake]

Well, come to find out, I couldn't get on the roof without combining the extention cord with the cat and using the cat as a counter weight to get me up there. I forgot I was playing a comedy. Thanks guys!

[Andail]

This morning I SEARCHED my pocket for my KEY, and then I USED KEY on DOOR, and then I clicked HAND on DOOR to make sure it was locked.

My life is such an adventure.

[Matti]

I just used filters on papers and then tobacco on papers to create a new inventory item, called a cigarette. Now I'll use a lighter on it. Now that's some tricky stuff.

[Khris]

I came across this page recently: http://thereifixedit.com/
Most of it are really cheap workarounds, but there's some pretty ingenious stuff there, too.

Edit: Damn. Never mind this post then.

[Matti]

Khris, Creed already mentioned that link in the 2nd post of this page 

[Stupot]

My bedroom is tiny and I don't have space for a bedside table on which to put my lamp.  I do have a series of shelves above my bed, but unfortunately my lamp is too large to fit on any of them... so what I did was dangle my lamp upside down, hanging it by the base on the lowest shelf, and used a copy of the Beginner's Guide to DarkBASIC (which I never use) to hold it in place...

Not the most exciting puzzle, perhaps, nor the most ingenious solution.  And I couldn't think of any witty Stobbartesque remark to go with the moment, but as an adventure gamer I live for situations like that.

[Scarab]

A couple of months ago I was at my mate's party which got out of hand at the end, and resulted in the cistern in the bathroom being ripped off the wall. With me being the resident great bloke/handyman, I wound up being the one who had to fix it. I had my toolkit there, so I didn't have any trouble re-attatching it to the wall, but it still kept leaking. With no plumbing experience thus far, it became a real trial-and-error experience, resuting in:

Emptying the cistern so it wasn't too heavy for the screws before they got a proper hold on the wall,
Finding that it would just fill up again,
Tracing the pipes to the tap in the corner of the bathroom,
Turning off the water,
Emptying the cistern again
Attatching it to the wall
Fitting the pipes to the bowl
Still leaks
Taking out the buoyancy-seal for better access to where it was leaking
Trying to shove the rubber seal into the connection where it was leaking
Still leaks
Finding another, sneaky component that looked like it couldn't be removed, but could, allowing the seal to be placed inside it,
Fitting it all together again in the correct order,
Receiving much praise that I saved the cost of hiring a plumber.

The whole time I was doing it, I just felt like I was in one of those one room games, and I had all the inventory items at my disposal, and it was just a matter of fiiting them together the right way.