A quick guide to designing wherigos

Wherigos are much maligned for a few reasons, the least of which being that they are difficult to design. At the heart of this problem is the terrible, terrible Groundspeak Wherigo Builder. It is truly awful, for a lot of reasons. Thankfully, there is a solution: the online builder, called “Earwigo.” (Say it with a thick accent, as in “‘ere we go!”)

Far more elegant, and less prone to difficulties, it even warns you if you try to program something that is known to cause problems for some of the players. If you’d like to be able to use it, you need to contact sTeamTraen through his geocaching.com profile and ask. He’ll let you join the group, giving you access to the elegance of the builder.

I’m helping vbpad this afternoon with his Technology of Geocaching event (GC2NK9E) by giving a Wherigo presentation. Here are a summary of points to keep in mind when designing a wherigo cache. Note that all instructions here refer to the Earwigo builder, not the Groundspeak one.

Before you begin designing your wherigo, PLAN. Write the story out, as you want it to happen. Be specific in your plan. The more specific you are, the easier building the wherigo will be. This should be your first step! Determine where your zones will be, who your characters are, what items are in your wherigo, any player input that is required, etc.

Zones are the “waypoints” of wherigos. Make sure the smallest dimension of every zone is at least 20 m. Smaller will make it impossible for some players to run the cartridge. Also, have at MOST five zones active and visible at any given time. More will crash the Garmin players. The default shape for a zone is an octagon, but they can be made into any shape (use the MAP screen on the zones tab of the builder).

Media files can include both pictures and sound files, but sound files are only useable on smartphones, so should be avoided. All image files should be saved as .jpg, at a resolution of 100. 230 pixels wide is the maximum width, and 180 maximum height.

Under the Cartridge tab, enter all necessary information, including Starting Point, that it is Visible, and the activity is Geocache.

Characters are an important part of wherigos. Always assign a media image, and description to the characters – it makes them real. Be sure to select which zone the character will first be encountered within, and the type of character (NPC). All Commands listed (for characters and items) need to have Events associated with them. For characters, it’s usually dialog, and activation of zones, or items or changing variables for program purposes.

Dialog is a vital component of any wherigos where characters are involved. Be sure to assign dialog to all your characters! It’s a good way to get information to the player. Note that you cannot have dialog trigger special events – use messages to do that.

Expressions are used to check things. Examples include whether the player input is correct, or whether the player has accomplished certain things. They are one half of the lifeblood of your program, necessary for ensuring the player actually proceeds through the wherigo properly.

I normally use two types of expressions: true/false expressions for single use messages (such as welcoming the player to a new area), and variable expressions to track a player’s progress. I always have one PROGRESSTRACKER variable, that I use with such expressions.

Functions are far too complicated to use in most wherigos, and if you need the help with everything else, you don’t want to mess with any of these.

You can require the player to answer questions, or puzzles using the Input tab. You must have a variable associated with the input. It is a good idea to tell the player what kind of input you’re looking for (i.e., 6 digit number, one word answer, etc.). Always, ALWAYS keep your inputs short! 10 digit inputs should be the longest inputs used.

Items are another means of player interaction. The difference between characters and items is that items can be placed into the player’s inventory, which means the items will stay with the player no matter what zone they are in. Note that this means that if you want a character to stay with the player, you can define them as an item instead of as a character!

Like characters, items can be assigned commands and events, too. Items can also be locked or unlocked – the only function this has is to add another possible expression to check for.

Messages are much like dialog, but can have events associated with them. They can also have two different options available to answer, making them a great option if you want the player to choose between two possible courses of action.

Tasks are used to help the player keep track of what they need to do. They should only be used when the player has a lot of different things to keep track of. Be very descriptive in your task description – they are, after all, used to help the player!

There are two types of timers: interval, and countdown. Interval timers are used to check whether something has been done during the course of the wherigo. Countdown timers are used to give the player a time limit to accomplish a task.

Always use the “on tick” event to define what happens with the timer finishes its countdown.

Variables are the second half of the program’s lifeblood, linked almost inextricably with Expressions. There are three types: String, Number, and Flag.
String type: letters, numbers, and spaces allowed. DO NOT use symbols. Only good use is for letter inputs.

Number type: integer numbers from 0 to as high as you want. Good uses include tracking progress (use the INCREMENT VARIABLE), and number inputs.

Flag type: true / false type variable. Something either is, or it isn’t. Good uses include showing a message only once (like entering a zone), checking if a timer has elapsed, and checking if the player has done certain things.

The Cache Container
At the end of the wherigo, you need to tell the cacher where the cache is. This can be done by giving coordinates, but this is not the best option. It allows the cacher to find it on an emulator, or by reading the text file.

The better option is giving direction to the cache container, helping them find it within the final zone. Then, they have to play the wherigo to find the cache, which is the entire idea.

Finally, if you’re looking to design a wherigo, keep three last things in mind: a good location for the final container (send an email to cache tech or cache agent to confirm location first!), have lots of patience, as a simple wherigo will take about an hour to design, and, if you get stuck, ASK FOR HELP! There are always people who can help you if you get stuck. Me, for one. 🙂