How to make hunts
INTRODUCTION
If you’ve visited Scavengers before, you’ll have noticed the hunts - the bread and butter of the room. Most likely you’ll have told yourself: “Man, I wanna make a hunt too!” Sadly, a lot of people tend to follow with “Damn. I can’t think of anything cool.” This guide aims to help anyone who wants to make a hunt by supplying tips, tricks, and examples!
To submit a hunt, simply ask a staff member if they can add your hunt to the queue. Once they respond, send them your hunt. If it's too long to send in a PM, copy and paste it into a pastebin or a hastebin and send them the link.
This guide will explore a plethora of question types, ranging from typical scavenging questions to special types! Of course, you can use any 3 questions you want, since a hunt does not have to be made of 1 and only 1 type of question.
To submit a hunt, simply ask a staff member if they can add your hunt to the queue. Once they respond, send them your hunt. If it's too long to send in a PM, copy and paste it into a pastebin or a hastebin and send them the link.
This guide will explore a plethora of question types, ranging from typical scavenging questions to special types! Of course, you can use any 3 questions you want, since a hunt does not have to be made of 1 and only 1 type of question.
GENERAL GUIDELINES
This section of the guide aims to help you with how to format and how to word certain questions you might want to ask.
THE FORMAT
When submitting hunts to staff to be started in the room, there is a certain format that should be followed so that it can be copied and pasted into the queue without changing; it can be viewed here: "/scav queue [Your Username] | Question 1 | Answer 1 | Question 2 | Answer 2 | Question 3 | Answer 3" - in the case that the hunt is too long to directly send to the staff via PMs, it can be sent via hastebin or pastebin set into unlisted so no one can access it. Under most circumstances, every hunt should have 3 questions that do not give away the answer, use basic math, or otherwise "burn" a question.
CLARITY
Make sure your question indicates exactly what the solvers need to answer with. This is often done by only using demonstrative adjectives/pronouns (this/that/these/those, etc.) once in each question. Compare:
“This Pokemon has this signature move, which does damage and confuses the opponent. | Chatter”
“A Pokemon has this signature move, which does damage and confuses the opponent. | Chatter”
In the first example, the question is not clear whether it wants the Pokemon, the move, or both. In the second example, it’s easy to tell that answering with only the move is what the question expects. As such, it is advised to stick to 1 instance of a demonstrative adjective/pronoun per question.
“This Pokemon has this signature move, which does damage and confuses the opponent. | Chatter”
“A Pokemon has this signature move, which does damage and confuses the opponent. | Chatter”
In the first example, the question is not clear whether it wants the Pokemon, the move, or both. In the second example, it’s easy to tell that answering with only the move is what the question expects. As such, it is advised to stick to 1 instance of a demonstrative adjective/pronoun per question.
MULTIPLE ANSWERS
If your question has a list of multiple correct answers, make sure to specify the correct order. There are multiple ways to decide what the correct answer should be. For example:
“This is the Fruit Pokemon. | Tropius”
There are 4 Fruit Pokemon, so it is necessary to better explain which Fruit Pokemon the solver should answer with.
“These are the Fruit Pokemon. | Tropius Steenee Bounsweet Tsareena”
Now it’s clear the answer should be all of the Fruit Pokemon. But what order should they be in? It’s critically important you specify which order to answer with in your question! Some examples:
“These are the Fruit Pokemon (alphabetical order) | Bounsweet Steenee Tropius Tsareena”
“These are the Fruit Pokemon (Dex order) | Tropius Bounsweet Steenee Tsareena”
“These are the Fruit Pokemon (BST ascending order) | Bounsweet Steenee Tropius Tsareena”
These are all valid ways of asking the question, as each makes it clear which order to list the four Fruit Pokemon in the answer.
Alternatively, if you only want to ask for 1 Pokemon, you can add in an extra clause:
“This is the Fruit Pokemon that hasn’t evolved and will not evolve. | Tropius”
“This is the Fruit Pokemon that has evolved already, but cannot evolve any more. | Tsareena"
Additionally, your question should not have more than 5 answers.
“This is the Fruit Pokemon. | Tropius”
There are 4 Fruit Pokemon, so it is necessary to better explain which Fruit Pokemon the solver should answer with.
“These are the Fruit Pokemon. | Tropius Steenee Bounsweet Tsareena”
Now it’s clear the answer should be all of the Fruit Pokemon. But what order should they be in? It’s critically important you specify which order to answer with in your question! Some examples:
“These are the Fruit Pokemon (alphabetical order) | Bounsweet Steenee Tropius Tsareena”
“These are the Fruit Pokemon (Dex order) | Tropius Bounsweet Steenee Tsareena”
“These are the Fruit Pokemon (BST ascending order) | Bounsweet Steenee Tropius Tsareena”
These are all valid ways of asking the question, as each makes it clear which order to list the four Fruit Pokemon in the answer.
Alternatively, if you only want to ask for 1 Pokemon, you can add in an extra clause:
“This is the Fruit Pokemon that hasn’t evolved and will not evolve. | Tropius”
“This is the Fruit Pokemon that has evolved already, but cannot evolve any more. | Tsareena"
Additionally, your question should not have more than 5 answers.
GRAMMAR AND SPELLING
This one can be tough, especially if English is not your first language. But don’t let that bother you! The staff of Scavengers are always willing to help you out, and if you have trouble wording something, you can always PM them for advice. If you’re not sure about how to spell something, Google is your hero. Of course, mistakes happen, and nobody should be angry about them, since we all make mistakes!
STAY FACTUAL
This should be obvious, but when making a hunt you cannot use things that are simply untrue or cannot be verified. Compare:
“This person is the 45th President of the USA | Hillary Clinton”
“The world is in fact controlled by these. | Reptilians”
While these sorts of questions might be funny in certain circumstances, generally they’re no good if you don’t specify it’s either a joke or a theory. A good way to specify might be:
“A common conspiracy theory is that the world is controlled by this species. | Reptilians”
Additionally, each question should have a reliable source and be consistently findable. For example, a question regarding a very newly released game may not be doable if there are no online sources that have documented the game yet.
“This person is the 45th President of the USA | Hillary Clinton”
“The world is in fact controlled by these. | Reptilians”
While these sorts of questions might be funny in certain circumstances, generally they’re no good if you don’t specify it’s either a joke or a theory. A good way to specify might be:
“A common conspiracy theory is that the world is controlled by this species. | Reptilians”
Additionally, each question should have a reliable source and be consistently findable. For example, a question regarding a very newly released game may not be doable if there are no online sources that have documented the game yet.
ENGLISH PLEASE!
If you want to use another language’s spelling for an answer, make sure you specify, but generally it’s preferred you stick to the English language, unless a question specifically calls for it. Definitely don’t write entire questions in a language most people can’t understand.
kEEP IT SIMPLE
In general, overly complicated hunts, including really big puzzles, tend to turn people off from finishing them, and could kill the room. Not everyone thinks in the same way the huntmaker does, so it’s important to base your questions around one or two themes, and avoid long tangents. For example:
"This Super Smash Bros fighter has a down tilt that does the same amount of damage as the Seed Pokémon’s National dex number plus the National dex number of the Pokémon whose name contains a word that means the same thing as Скала in Russian."
The above question is a little bit ridiculous with how many things it wants the user to find and use. It would be much simpler to ask just about the Pokémon aspect. Remember, your hunt should be challenging, but doable.
Similarly, overly complicated puzzles are often difficult to justify. These are often in the form of puzzles which have no clear direction and require the reader to know exactly what the hunt-maker is thinking. These include, but are not limited to, audio hunts, party puzzles, overly complicated ciphers, and overly-complicated sequences/patterns.
Keep It Simple, Stupid!
"This Super Smash Bros fighter has a down tilt that does the same amount of damage as the Seed Pokémon’s National dex number plus the National dex number of the Pokémon whose name contains a word that means the same thing as Скала in Russian."
The above question is a little bit ridiculous with how many things it wants the user to find and use. It would be much simpler to ask just about the Pokémon aspect. Remember, your hunt should be challenging, but doable.
Similarly, overly complicated puzzles are often difficult to justify. These are often in the form of puzzles which have no clear direction and require the reader to know exactly what the hunt-maker is thinking. These include, but are not limited to, audio hunts, party puzzles, overly complicated ciphers, and overly-complicated sequences/patterns.
Keep It Simple, Stupid!
stay poSITIVE!
Making a hunt can be easy and it can be hard. It’s easy to toss together three questions and be done with it, and that’s perfectly okay! Getting your hunt to be a certain difficulty, however, can be complicated. If you’re aiming to make a hunt of a certain difficulty, and it doesn’t work out, don’t give up! Keep making hunts, and continue trying to improve them.
Huntmaking can be tons of fun, and the community (reg users and auth alike) are almost always happy to help you out if you ever need help with something. It’s very important to remember the room is a place to have fun, and that includes making hunts! So don’t let a bad hunt or a hunt that has faults bother you. It happens to everyone, even the most experienced hunt makers!
Huntmaking can be tons of fun, and the community (reg users and auth alike) are almost always happy to help you out if you ever need help with something. It’s very important to remember the room is a place to have fun, and that includes making hunts! So don’t let a bad hunt or a hunt that has faults bother you. It happens to everyone, even the most experienced hunt makers!
REGULAR SCAVENGER QUESTIONS
So, you might be wondering what defines a “regular scavenger question.” These types of questions can vary greatly, but in essence the base idea is always the same. Generally, a question like this asks for a piece of information, and will require finding a certain page on the internet that has that information on it. Sometimes, if you find the correct page, the answer will be written out for you. Other times, you’ll have to look through the page with some basic knowledge of the subject material to find the answer.
Good examples of this question type are tend to ask for random trivia and info (as long as it’s verifiable). So, let’s write out some sample hunts!
Good examples of this question type are tend to ask for random trivia and info (as long as it’s verifiable). So, let’s write out some sample hunts!
CONNECTED QUESTIONS
/scav queue Darthikyu | This is the Requiem Pokemon. | Duskull | Requiem was a music piece written by this composer. (last name) | Mozart | Mozart’s contemporary, Beethoven, suffered from an ironic bodily malfunction. He was this at the end of his life. | Deaf
Connected questions are fairly common ways to develop a hunt. The previous question's answer could be brought up or be the focus of the next question, and continues throughout the hunt.
Connected questions are fairly common ways to develop a hunt. The previous question's answer could be brought up or be the focus of the next question, and continues throughout the hunt.
Random Trivia
/scav queue Darthikyu | This man was the 44th president of the USA (last name only). | Obama | This is the scientific name of a domestic cat. | Felis Catus | These countries form the Benelux (Alphabetical order) | Belgium Luxembourg The Netherlands
Examples of trivia questions above. Most appropriate trivia questions that have specific answers are acceptable. Just don't borrow questions that were recently brought up in the Trivia room.
Examples of trivia questions above. Most appropriate trivia questions that have specific answers are acceptable. Just don't borrow questions that were recently brought up in the Trivia room.
PUZZLE TYPES
Here, you can learn about the various types of puzzles included in hunts in the Scavengers room.
Psywaves
Psywave questions are based around synonyms and the way words are pronounced. For example, the given Psywave question may be [Pastry] + [Animal Sound], with the answer being Pyroar - here, the pastry is pie, and the animal sound is roar. The topic for these questions is usually given, and might not be a species of Pokemon or even Pokemon-related at all.
Ports
Ports are questions in which phrases overlap via 2 or more letters. On their own, the individual sections of a port will usually have various possible answers, but the port as a whole should have just one answer. Here is an example - "[Normal-type][Rock-type]" - Here, the Normal-type Pokemon mentioned could be Porygon, meaning that the Rock-type's name would start with the same letters as Porygon's name ends with. The answer should look like this: "porygonix"
Circle ports are like normal ports, but they loop back on themselves. A possible circle port is Nidokingdratinidoking.
Circle ports are like normal ports, but they loop back on themselves. A possible circle port is Nidokingdratinidoking.
Anagrams
Anagrams are fairly straightforward - the aim is to unscramble the given letters or phrase into something that fits the given topic. For example, if the topic were Pokemon Cities, then "are ten" would give Eterna.
Params
Params is short for parameters, more specifically, parameters for the /ds (or /ms) command. The idea is that you get the results and the amount of parameters and you should find out which parameters you can use to get the given results in /ds. The answers are usually given in alphabetical order.
Puns
Making a good Pun is pretty self-explanatory, It’s just making a pun. There’s not exactly much to sea.. Err… see.
When making a pun you should rely on your own mastery of the language, as that helps you feel and gauge how hard the pun is as a whole.
Example of puns:
“This Pokemon is kinda weird” - Oddish
“People always ask me why I do stuff, and I always respond…” - Wynaut
“Putting this Pokemon on a CD-Player might set a romantic mood.” - Luvdisc
“This Pokemon is so old, it met the Spartans at Thermopylae.” - Persian
When making a pun you should rely on your own mastery of the language, as that helps you feel and gauge how hard the pun is as a whole.
Example of puns:
“This Pokemon is kinda weird” - Oddish
“People always ask me why I do stuff, and I always respond…” - Wynaut
“Putting this Pokemon on a CD-Player might set a romantic mood.” - Luvdisc
“This Pokemon is so old, it met the Spartans at Thermopylae.” - Persian