Square Zero: hide silly messages in decorative borders
A New Year's card featured a hidden binary message linking to a mini-game. Developed in JavaScript, the project faced challenges but was well-received, with players sharing high scores.
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The article discusses the creation of a New Year's greeting card that includes a hidden binary message leading to a retro mini-game. The binary code, encoded in the card's decorative border, spells out a URL (danwilkerson.com/soar) where the game can be accessed. The author details the technical challenges faced while developing the border generator in JavaScript, including issues with pixel rendering and floating-point precision. The game itself is a simple 2D scroller designed for accessibility, featuring animated backgrounds and basic collision detection. The card was sent to about 40 recipients, but few recognized the puzzle initially. However, once prompted, many figured out the binary aspect. The first to solve the puzzle was Andrew Sweet, who received a visit as a prize. Overall, the card and game were well-received, with players sharing high scores, prompting the author to consider future projects.
- The New Year's card contained a hidden binary message leading to a mini-game.
- The border generator was developed in JavaScript, facing technical challenges.
- The mini-game is a simple 2D scroller designed for easy playability.
- Few recipients recognized the puzzle initially, but interest grew after prompts.
- The project was successful, with players sharing high scores and enjoying the game.
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7 commentsOnly, it too GCHQ to finally solve them.
I have always been a "hacker" at heart. Although I couldn't express my thoughts on the guy publicly, I DID add a new linetype to the file which sets them in Autocad which had a rude message about him. The scale was so small It looked like a solid line, but if you were in the file and zoomed in you could see it repeated over and over.
Thinking back, I don't know if any files with that linetype went out to consultants, but if they did the consultants either didn't catch it or kept my secret.
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