Part 7: Bonus Update I: Let's Take A Short Look At Safe Opening Simulator
Bonus Update I: Let's Take A Short Look At Safe Opening Simulator
Well, I've half been putting this off and half been legit too busy to do this, but I've got a bit of time now, so let's give this a shot!
Safe Opening Simulator. The name of the game is the name of the game - it doesn't get much more straight-forward than that. Now, this game was released in 1993 by Locksoft. Who is Locksoft? Well, they're a computer solutions company for locksmiths. They are indeed experts in this field, and guess what - that continues into this game.
Starting off, you're given a picture of a safe and a scenario. In this case, our client has forgotten his combination. Now, before we can begin opening this safe, we need to establish what kind of safe this is.
And right off the bat, you can see that this "game" does not fuck around.
The keen-eyed individual can actually get this one right without prior knowledge, as you can see "National Security" engraved on the safe, but for now, let's get this one wrong...
...and we get this message. You see, this software (calling it a game is honestly not the right term) didn't want to just lock out people that couldn't identify a certain safe. When you get something wrong once, you get this "beep! beep!" message. You get this message after two wrong answers and three wrong answers as well. However, after the third wrong answer, the software assumes you've got no idea and fills the solution in for you!
And with Natl-Sec in the first slot, we can move on to the next identifier, the model.
This is the part where you've actually really got to know your stuff or just guess.
This is the part where you can clearly see that this is not for the novice or even the intermediate safe enthusiast. This is where the big boys play.
And this goes on for a while...
...with a few more identifiers...
...getting more and more detailed...
...until you get the last one.
With everything filled in, we're allowed to attack the safe with a tool.
In this case, we start off by trouble-shooting:
Trouble-shooting essentially involves turning the combination lock and listening for sounds and using a hammer (for what, I have no idea). Of course, without knowing what you're doing, it goes nowhere.
After trouble-shooting, successful or not, we can then attack the safe using a drill.
We are given a wealth of information, which however is useless to the amateur (that amateur being me).
Of course, with no idea, the most we can do is just try...
...and we weren't lucky. As you can tell, we are also given very little wiggle room.
With that, we failed the mission, and are given a new one.
After identifying, a tool catches my eye. Explosives? That sounds great!
OH BOY, WE'RE BLOWING THIS SUCKER!
If you blow the safe up, the software will explain to you what you have to do. Of course, without proper knowledge, it's still pretty much useless.
And that's pretty much as far as I can get. The Home of the Underdogs description of this software described it as "esoteric", and that's pretty much the word that sums it up. This is no game, this is a serious simulator for the serious enthusiast.
However, I believe that since the game explains the methods to you when you blow the safe up, you can probably manage to actually win a mission simply through collection information. It simply takes a hell of a lot of time and effort. Time and effort which I don't have. As such, this was only a short look, because without taking Lock Technology 101 (and 102, 103, 110, 111, 201 and probably a lot more) this isn't going anywhere.
Well, I hope this short look is satisfactory for those that brought it up in the Sandcastle. Next time, we'll be going into a field I actually know a lot about, that being pinball, when we take a look at Midway's Safecracker!