Description of Function
Save the Kremlin! is an interactive 2-person quest to save the historic Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. Dr.Ed has planted an explosive DOOMSDAY device at the base of the towers, and it is all set to detonate and turn the towers to dust!
When the heroes first arrive at the city, they are met with a public display of Fear & Panic — a foreboding yellow siren light warns of the imminent destruction. In the background, ominous music matches the melancholy mood of the city.
The mission to save the city begins when one of the two heroes removes their hat from the hook. The removed weight releases a button and the machine responds by turning off the siren light and silencing the music. Thus Fear & Panic has ended and the Mission has begun. From this point, the heroes have 60 seconds to complete the mission or else the device will automatically reset itself. They can gauge their progress from the movement of the Matryoshka Doll who shows the passage of time, and compare it to the 12 LED Progress Lights which illuminate at the following milestones:
Stage 1 is completed simply by both heroes donning their undercover spy wear (for Hero 1 a traditional fur hat, and for Hero 2 a military officer’s hat). The condition to progress to the next stage is that both hats have been removed from the hooks (i.e. both buttons are concurrently in the released state).
Stage 2 is the first challenge for the incognito heroes. In order to have any hope of disarming the bomb, Dr.Ed’s Eyes in the Sky (a set of surveillance cameras hidden in the framework of the Kremlin) must first be disabled. But in order to accomplish this, a large-scale diversion is in order! Once Stage 2 is initiated, a boistrous Cossack dance tune kicks things off and Hero 1, in their traditional garb, provides that very diversion in the form of the Kaзaчoк dance (See an example here). Whether putting on a great performance or just making a public spectacle of themselves, Hero 1 must continually switch from one foot to the other in order to alternately press and depress the left and right foot buttons on the dance pad.
As Hero 1 dances (or attempts to), Hero 2 gets to disabling the Eyes in the Sky. With a keen eye, they must watch for the glare of the sun reflecting off of the camera lens (indicated by a lit white LED). When they spot the camera, they must disable it (cover it with their hand to disrupt the IR source/receiver pair). When a camera has been disabled, the white LED will turn off and the next progress LED turns on indicating success. A total of 6 cameras must be disabled before progressing to the next stage.
But Hero 1 must not stop dancing or their partner won’t be able to discreetly disable the cameras! If a pause of longer than 2 seconds is detected between dance steps, people will get bored of the diversion and start looking around. As long as Hero 1 is not dancing, Hero 2 cannot disable any cameras (the active camera will remain lit). As soon as dancing resumes, the cameras can be disabled as before. Once all 6 cameras have been disabled, the mission moves onto the third and final stage.
In Stage 3, the bomb can finally be disarmed. This is accomplished by typing in the correct 6-character code using the 12-button keypad wired to the explosive device. But Hero 1, who is responsible for code entry, can only see the first and last digits of the code in the windows of the Kremlin. The rest are covered by a pesky Iron Curtain! The two heroes must again work together, with Hero 2 turning the hand crank on the right side of the device to raise the curtain and reveal the missing 4 code characters. The faster they spin the crank, the faster the curtain is raised (determined by analog measurement of a motor terminal voltage connected to the hand crank).
As each code character is revealed, Hero 1 must enter the corresponding button on the keypad. Each time a button is pressed, the explosive device vibrates and the outcome is displayed on the walls of the Kremlin. A correct entry lights a green LED underneath the relevant code character. An incorrect entry turns off all previously lit green LEDs, lights all red LEDs, and continuously vibrates the explosive device for 2 seconds as a warning. The hero must wait for these 2 seconds until the red lights turn off and the device has stopped vibrating before they can proceed with code entry again, starting back at the beginning of the code. Any buttons pressed during the 2-second warning period will not register with the device.
Once all 6 code characters have been successfully entered via the keypad (provided the 60-second timer has not expired), the explosive device has been successfully Disarmed and the entire city celebrates the Hope & Joy that the two courageous heroes have brought them. For 30 seconds, the heroes and those around them are treated to a flashing LED firework show and victorious music.
After the 30-second display, the device enters a Reset mode in order to re-arm the device so that Dr.Ed does not become alerted to the fact that his device has been disabled. Reset mode is also entered if the 60-second timer expires during the mission. In this mode, music is silenced, all LED lights are turned off, and the Iron Curtain and Matryoshka Doll (timer) are returned to their starting positions. The final requirement to exit Reset mode is that the hats must also be returned to their starting place on the monitored hooks. Once all of the above has been completed, the yellow siren light begins to flash and the ominous music begins anew. The city is once again in Fear & Panic mode, waiting for two heroes brave and cunning enough to…. Save the Kremlin!
When the heroes first arrive at the city, they are met with a public display of Fear & Panic — a foreboding yellow siren light warns of the imminent destruction. In the background, ominous music matches the melancholy mood of the city.
The mission to save the city begins when one of the two heroes removes their hat from the hook. The removed weight releases a button and the machine responds by turning off the siren light and silencing the music. Thus Fear & Panic has ended and the Mission has begun. From this point, the heroes have 60 seconds to complete the mission or else the device will automatically reset itself. They can gauge their progress from the movement of the Matryoshka Doll who shows the passage of time, and compare it to the 12 LED Progress Lights which illuminate at the following milestones:
- Stage 1: First hat removed (1 red LED)
- Stage 2: Camera successfully disabled (1 yellow LED per camera — 6 total)
- Stage 3: Curtain progress (1 blue or white LED for each of the middle code characters revealed — 4 total)
- Stage 3: Successful code entered - Device disarmed! (1 green LED)
Stage 1 is completed simply by both heroes donning their undercover spy wear (for Hero 1 a traditional fur hat, and for Hero 2 a military officer’s hat). The condition to progress to the next stage is that both hats have been removed from the hooks (i.e. both buttons are concurrently in the released state).
Stage 2 is the first challenge for the incognito heroes. In order to have any hope of disarming the bomb, Dr.Ed’s Eyes in the Sky (a set of surveillance cameras hidden in the framework of the Kremlin) must first be disabled. But in order to accomplish this, a large-scale diversion is in order! Once Stage 2 is initiated, a boistrous Cossack dance tune kicks things off and Hero 1, in their traditional garb, provides that very diversion in the form of the Kaзaчoк dance (See an example here). Whether putting on a great performance or just making a public spectacle of themselves, Hero 1 must continually switch from one foot to the other in order to alternately press and depress the left and right foot buttons on the dance pad.
As Hero 1 dances (or attempts to), Hero 2 gets to disabling the Eyes in the Sky. With a keen eye, they must watch for the glare of the sun reflecting off of the camera lens (indicated by a lit white LED). When they spot the camera, they must disable it (cover it with their hand to disrupt the IR source/receiver pair). When a camera has been disabled, the white LED will turn off and the next progress LED turns on indicating success. A total of 6 cameras must be disabled before progressing to the next stage.
But Hero 1 must not stop dancing or their partner won’t be able to discreetly disable the cameras! If a pause of longer than 2 seconds is detected between dance steps, people will get bored of the diversion and start looking around. As long as Hero 1 is not dancing, Hero 2 cannot disable any cameras (the active camera will remain lit). As soon as dancing resumes, the cameras can be disabled as before. Once all 6 cameras have been disabled, the mission moves onto the third and final stage.
In Stage 3, the bomb can finally be disarmed. This is accomplished by typing in the correct 6-character code using the 12-button keypad wired to the explosive device. But Hero 1, who is responsible for code entry, can only see the first and last digits of the code in the windows of the Kremlin. The rest are covered by a pesky Iron Curtain! The two heroes must again work together, with Hero 2 turning the hand crank on the right side of the device to raise the curtain and reveal the missing 4 code characters. The faster they spin the crank, the faster the curtain is raised (determined by analog measurement of a motor terminal voltage connected to the hand crank).
As each code character is revealed, Hero 1 must enter the corresponding button on the keypad. Each time a button is pressed, the explosive device vibrates and the outcome is displayed on the walls of the Kremlin. A correct entry lights a green LED underneath the relevant code character. An incorrect entry turns off all previously lit green LEDs, lights all red LEDs, and continuously vibrates the explosive device for 2 seconds as a warning. The hero must wait for these 2 seconds until the red lights turn off and the device has stopped vibrating before they can proceed with code entry again, starting back at the beginning of the code. Any buttons pressed during the 2-second warning period will not register with the device.
Once all 6 code characters have been successfully entered via the keypad (provided the 60-second timer has not expired), the explosive device has been successfully Disarmed and the entire city celebrates the Hope & Joy that the two courageous heroes have brought them. For 30 seconds, the heroes and those around them are treated to a flashing LED firework show and victorious music.
After the 30-second display, the device enters a Reset mode in order to re-arm the device so that Dr.Ed does not become alerted to the fact that his device has been disabled. Reset mode is also entered if the 60-second timer expires during the mission. In this mode, music is silenced, all LED lights are turned off, and the Iron Curtain and Matryoshka Doll (timer) are returned to their starting positions. The final requirement to exit Reset mode is that the hats must also be returned to their starting place on the monitored hooks. Once all of the above has been completed, the yellow siren light begins to flash and the ominous music begins anew. The city is once again in Fear & Panic mode, waiting for two heroes brave and cunning enough to…. Save the Kremlin!