Need help with the Tessellation- Newcomer and completely lost

Hi fellow agents, so today I discovered the whole Tesselletion challenge and I went through reading all the rules and what not about it for more than an hour and mostly came out confused.

But I thought I would give it a try to see what has to be decoded and how. So today at 5:30 UTC when the code was released (for Umbra unmasked I believe) I was a bit late to the show. So by the time I decoded the code to get the link to the passcodes it was too late. All the passcodes seemed to have been redeemed, Of course I checked randomly maybe 5 or 6 passcodes, but all in vain. Well I then waited to inquire about it and someone suggested that a new list was added. I tried the first code and then it gave me the error "passcode circuit too hot. Try again later". So now I am stuck, disappointed and annoyed that I was hyped up for nothing. I play on an IOS device so I can only redeem via the intel map.

Nonetheless I decided to give the Archetype challenge. The code was a photo this time. But I have no clue what it was! I am quite new to this and had no understanding towards tackling this code. And yet within sometime the post was flooded with screenshots. How do I even begin to approach such a problem? Maybe I am a noob and I even accept it, but am I missing something? I looked for all kinds of stuff on google related to the image but nothing like it showed up. Well any help with that would be appreciated.

I am not ranting about it, I am just asking as to how do you agents prepare yourself for this challenge. Am I missing something? It seems everyone else is doing this hassle free. Any help will be appreciated

Yours Truly,

A lost Agent!

Comments

  • Hi!

    I feel your confusion, as a quite new agent with this challenge myself. When I first contributed about a month ago I didn`t understand what I was supposed to do, and felt totally lost. Now I am more relaxed and aware what to do when the codes are released and the puzzle is to be resolved. Be patient, you still have time to succeed with the challenge!

    One successful redeem and posting the screenshot to a correct thread is enough for the Knight of Tessellation medal, so you still have more opportunities ahead. Otherwise it is about for you to help to decode the puzzle together with your faction team, so ask your team how to participate. That can also be quite fun itself, so good luck with your efforts! :)

  • Thanks for the wise and comforting words. I am glad that I am not the only one who is confused completely.


    On the part of decoding with my faction: is there like a thread or sticky where I can join my faction in decoding the puzzles? I have asked my local agents but none of them are participating in it. So I can only ask for agents in here.


    Any idea on passcode circuit cooldown too? I only tried to redeem 5-6 codes at around 8:00 am local time. Its 11:00 am local time and I still can check for any passcodes.

  • My pleasure, hope you will succeed. :)

    I guess both factions have a chat where you can join when verified. Are you RES or ENL? There are agents in both who can help you with this, I am RES so able to help to join with us.

    Using Intel for redeem is usually enough if you are prepaired, but if you have access to android device, you can redeem much more codes via scanner store. The codes usually are fully redeemed quickly, so I don`t think you can find one anymore, unless you`re extremely lucky. :)

  • ArkFangArkFang ✭✭✭✭✭

    Hello! Like I said before, let me explain a bit more about what is happening with the Tessellation and preparation.

    First of all, the best way to prepare is to figure out what works best for you. Some of us use a combination of computer and phone, others use just their phone. For the global drops, it's all about being fast but accurate. It's easy to do alone, if you have the right tools. Additionally, the global drops usually have the first sheet link hidden in some way once it updates. If you look at all the global drops for Round 12 it should become apparent what the methodology was to hide the link. There are some other preparation techniques but that's for another time. The global drop passcodes are also only one redeem, period. Once someone redeems one of those codes, it's gone for good. So it's important to be ready and be fast, cause the first passcode list will be drained within usually five minutes or less.


    For the targeted drops (decoding) it's all about teamwork and collaboration. Each person brings their own skill set and their own knowledge. In the past, the images gave a clue for where (and sometimes when) a drop would take place. An agent would need to be there to hack the correct portal. However, the most recent rounds are ALL password-based, due to near-global COVID restrictions. Now the clues for the decoding drops point to a specific portal or place. The passcode to put in intel would be the correct portal name in English characters, without any spaces or special characters. This is the same way for the picture for Interpreter Archetype. The animals in the center are a clue for the general location, an area and country. The text around the outside are the Nemesis Runes that, when translated, can be used to find a more specific place, or even a portal itself. However, the snake image around the outside is the clincher, and is the most important piece to confirm which portal is the correct one. If you'd like, I can explain more in depth on Telegram.


    Speaking of Telegram, the best possible thing for you to do to get involved is connect with the community. Try to see if anyone in your local community is involved in the Tessellation. There's also Operation Essex, a cross-faction Telegram group that is dedicated to lore and investigating. We don't decode much there, but it's a good place to get involved and learn. Most of the decoding and most Ingress groups are all on Telegram, so I urge you to download and sign up with that. If you'd like more information about anything Tessellation related, feel free to contact me on there.


    My name on TG is ArkFang, just like here. What I posted here is a good starter, but I can give you more detailed information if you have specific questions. I'm also more than willing to post stuff here as long as it doesn't dive too deep into faction-specific information.


    Speaking of faction, may I ask what faction you are? I may be able to help get you involved in the larger Tessellation groups if you would like,.

  • Hey thanks for all the detailed explanation and help. Taking your advice I have asked a friend of mine if he would like to join and he has agreed. So at least two is a party for now. I am ENL by the way and I use TG and I can add you there. I have the same id as in here.

    I asked my local ingress group about this but none of them seems to be willing to try it out. Hence I asked the question in here first.

    Now I understood that the archetype photo was a portal photo and not something that is available to search through the web. Would love to know which one it was and what was the thought process behind searching for it. Nonetheless I still didnt find it and somehow even after 5 hours or so my passcode circuit was still hot. Not sure if something is broken there.

    Thanks again for everything and I will send you a message on TG soon. Cheers fellow agent.

  • Thanks to @ArkFang and @CallistaMing for all the help. I am now more familiar with the challenge and dont feel so frustrated or lost anymore! Thanks once again!

  • Hello fellow Agent. It is great to know that you have joined the Investigation. I feel free to share with you two useful links that explains much about what is the Tessellation itself and how it works:

    The first link are the updated Tessellation Directives. There you can read about what are the Tesserae and how to find them, as well as the explained mechanics of this event.

    The second one is the Tessellation Board. This board is where the game against Nemesis is played. The objective of us Agents are primarily to beat Nemesis, and then, trying to get more points than the opposing Faction. To score points, we have to correctly guess where in the board each Tessera are placed, by making predictions. All this flow is explained in detail on the first link.

    You can also check The Tessellation Primer and Tessellation Medals FAQ forum topics, many useful information for newcomers can be found there.

    And about passcode redeeming on Intel, I feel your pain. Like you, I am a iOS user and can’t redeem passcodes directly via the scanner. The problem of this redeeming method is the fact that there’s a limit on how many passcodes you can redeem in a short period of time, much like hacking portals. After some attempts, (ranging from 10 to 15), the passcode redemption line burns out like an exhausted portal after a series of consecutive hacks. So you have to wait several minutes or even one or two hours before being able to redeem a passcode again. So my tip about Intel redemption, is to have the correct passcodes ready and in the case of a list of single-redeemable passcodes, try to access a fresh list, as old ones may have many or all of the passcodes already redeemed, what would consume your attempts with unsuccessful ones, leading the passcode line to a burnout.

    There’s still many Tesserae yet to be discovered, so you still have plenty of time to participate in this Event.

    Happy hunting!

  • Thanks for summing up everything for me. I have taken note of the advice you gave about the passcode redemption and I will be careful to not burn out the circuit. Thankfully with a lot of help from another agent I was able to be a part of Lightman vlog challenge and I look forward to continue participating.

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