I am actually ambivalent about the use of these tactics, particularly red herrings, in a puzzle game like this. I don't find them satisfying, as such use muddles the puzzle and destroys its elegance. For a path finding game such as this, it is often possible to work "backward" from a known solution configuration to arrive at an extremely complicated setup (initial state). Such does not guarantee a good puzzle. Likewise, adding these red herrings (particularly in cases in which those additions were clearly there only to muddle the picture) is a poor and cheap way to "make" a puzzle appear more difficult than it is. The challenge should be within the puzzle itself. The challenge is NOT to dig out from the pile of sands hiding the puzzle underneath it. That is why I asked the developer those questions I posted in an earlier post. Too bad that the developer has not replied.
Just finished the game, including the new "Super Hard 2" set of bonus levels. Overall, very satisfied with the amount of "game" in this game. Lots of contents/puzzles. Difficulty ramp-up a bit too slow or gentle, though it may be fitting for novice puzzle gamers. Later puzzles are complicated but not as difficult as the "hard" bonus puzzle levels in Trainyard. Not fan of some of the game's tactics to make a puzzle more difficult that it really is. Lots of annoying red herrings with extra switches, bridges, etc. While some may be used in alternate solutions, there are cases when those are clearly extraneous and put in there to confuse the player (in some cases, force use of these extra switches or bridges would make a level actually unsolvable). As well, a few levels are unsolvable unless the constraint are removed that all trucks must stop at a building at the end of the routes. These are very rare, but I don't understand why they are there in the game. The hint system is interesting. The game is flexible enough that most of the levels have multiple solutions. Unclear how an "optimal" solution may be defined. I use a combination of minimum total path length and/or minimum total number of turns. A good exercise to use hints to see what the stock solution is intended to be and then compare it to your own. In the few cases I tried (you get 5 hints free), the stock solutions are all different from those I found.
Hi y2kmpm3, sorry about the delay in reply... For 1.1.0 we have a hidden 'par' value for each level and only track if people are getting a better result (less steps) than it. This value is the sum of the steps for the trucks. So, in a future update, we could introduce this par value for each level, and you could compare if you have find the optimal solution - or an even better one. Unfortunately the 1.1.0 version is still missing everything else related to statistics (doesn't store your optimal solution or anything), so if/when the game will have the support for stats, you'll need to replay the levels if you want to compare your solution to the optimal one. Yes, there are some levels that the most obvious solution causes a collision, so you need to tweak the routes sometimes a bit. In the harder levels many of these collisions were not foreseen when designing the puzzle - they just happen All levels were originally designed to use all trucks. However, beta testers early noticed that they were completing some of them with not using all trucks. We asked for their opinion if we should remove the extra trucks, but they were happy that they had been able to solve the puzzle with not even using all trucks. When the beta testers found too good shortcuts for some levels, we needed to make some levels a bit harder. When modifying the levels, maybe 1 (or 2 ?) of the levels in the game ended up having an extra truck which you actually CAN'T use (spoiler: Spoiler level T-3 seems to be one ). About the bridges and buttons: there are bunch of levels that don't require using all of them, and we could have cleaned up some levels a bit more before the releasing the game, we admit. And about the levels with drop points: drop points on/off selections are automatically added in all the 4-way crossroads that don't have a truck, button or a package. No red herrings there in purpose or by accident I hid this as a spoiler if someone hasn't played these yet, but actually we're a bit proud of this feature: After playing a long time, you suddenly need to question the rules a bit to complete the level. I wouldn't consider the yellow truck in W-10 to be a red herring. You anyway need to get it to the yellow house. But you made valid points: Some puzzles could be more clean. I hope my answers explain a bit why things are as they are
We agree 100%! We wanted to get one update out for the game as soon as possible, adding some minor improvements and bugfixes. Also, we wanted to add a bit more content since quite many players had already completed all 240 levels and we got much feedback that they wanted more. Creating any new gameplay mechanisms was impossible in this timeframe, but adding 40 new hard levels was doable and we decided to add those. We don't have a concrete plan yet, but many ideas to include something new for the game in a future update (factories, traffic lights, tunnels...?).
I definitely disagree with this. I think that many of the "extra" elements make the game more challenging in a good way. As you said, using sone switches makes the level unsolvable so you have to avoid them. If you know you have to use every switch and truck, it's a lot simpler and less interesting than working out whether to use it or not. It's no different from having bits of road which you don't use. I guess if you removed all the "extra" roads and obstacles that aren't required then at least you could stop worrying about statistics and optimal solutions, as there'd be only one way to complete the level. Anyway, I'm now slowly chugging thrpugh the new levels and was particularly pleased to find a solution where Spoiler I had to move one of the trucks but only by a single square.
Markus, Thank you so much for asking my questions. Having now solved the game entirely, I am obviously interested in learning your perspective of the game's original intended solutions. Concerning the level(s) in which you mentioned where "an extra truck which you actually CAN'T use", I presume you mean that it is optional whether or not you use all of the trucks to solve the level (rather than the supposition that the level is unsolvable if you are "forced" to use "all" of the trucks). In addition to the level you mentioned, I found 14 levels so far in which the levels are solvable WITHOUT using all of the trucks. It is likely that more such levels existed, as I was not looking to solve the game this way. Of these levels, 3 levels are solvable WITHOUT using MORE THAN 1 truck. In one extreme case ( Spoiler Houston U-2 ), the level can be solved WITHOUT using 3 (of the 4) trucks. This was the motivation for my original question. Thank you for making a great game. Even more, thank you for taking the time to explain the thinking behind the puzzle's design. I would love to see this "par" value explicitly given in the game as a goal for the player to beat. Like your game, this is missing in Trainyard which I found annoying. This "par" value needs not to be adjusted down whenever other players discover more "optimal" solution. For such a complicated game, it is almost certain that not all solutions can be foreseen (without using automated heuristic to check for all possible paths). In addition to the number of steps, please consider adding the number of turns as a metric. In fact, I find that a solution with lesser total number of turns actually looks more elegant on screen than a solution with the shortest path. Regardless, it is a useful metric that hints at the game's ORIGINAL solution so that the player can compare performance against a standard.
Markus, Very well made game! I had doubts on the first stages that it wasn't going to pick up, but I needed hints to complete the full game. The super hard pack 2 was almost too challenging at many parts, and I'm thrilled that you are working towards adding additional features/switch elements. One big improvement, if it hasn't already been suggested, is to have an easier to use undo system. Playing on iPhone5, I think there needs to be an alternate way to make adjustments. I also lose my mind when I accidentally press on the drop locations! Overall one of my favorite apps!
I meant that there should be only one (or maybe two) levels in RGB Express that are impossible to solve using all the trucks in the solution. In the level I refered to ( Spoiler T-3 ): you can't solve the puzzle if you are using the bottom left red truck at all, I think. Thanks! We are now super busy, as we want to release the game on Android as well very soon, but after that we will plan the next update which should already contain some statistics (feature which you can unlock by completing enough levels). We'll have a look if having the number of steps or turns or both makes most sense. We want to keep the statistics also very simple like the game UI style is.
Thanks! We really want to introduce at least one new trick for the puzzles the next time we'll have an update that contains new levels. I believe you know all three ways to clear the route or part of it: Double-tapping truck, or the route, or tracing back the path. We didn't want to have any extra buttons for the user interface, so this is what we currently have. If you have a good idea how the user interface could work on the levels with extra drop points, we'd be happy to hear! But thanks once again!
Just to let you know, we're publishing a major update for RGB Express next week, on the 27th of May! NEW STUFF: * 80 new levels * A modern day delivery vehicle: Hoverboard! Deliver packages like it's 2015! * Game Center achievements * Small improvements and optimizations By far the most requested thing from the fans has been new levels, so this update contains a big bunch of them, raising the total level count to 360! The new levels feature a new vehicle, hoverboard, that offers new gameplay mechanics since it's able to move also over the grass blocks. According to our beta testers the hoverboard levels offer some nice mind-bending challenge. You really need to figure out new ways to solve the levels. There are a couple of practice levels included, but mostly medium to hard puzzles. You don't need to complete all the previous 280 levels to access the new ones, but practically only the Training Day chapter. The new level pack is a free update. Hints for the levels can be purchased as in-app purchases, but this is of course completely optional. We'll be happy to answer your questions and your read your comments, thanks!
The major update for RGB Express (v1.3.0) with 80 new levels is out now! Solving the first tutorial hoverboard levels looks like this: Additionally, the price of the game has been discounted to $1.99 / 1.99 / £2.29. Download links, trailer and more at: http://rgbexpress.com Keep on truckin'!
Thanks all, much appreciated! The first players already seem to have completed 360 levels. It seems that we really need to get the statistics / step counter done for the levels and include some new leaderboards based on the minimum number of moves used, in order to make a better use of the GC leaderboards. Also, I wanted to share this tweet to you guys. One fan of the game got really stuck to level W-9 but didn't want to use a hint solve it, so he chose a more honorable way to get it solved and coded a solver for that level! Awesome! His tweet here: https://twitter.com/efeprat/status/535191556312289281
Hi folks! While we have been working long days with our upcoming silly clicker Make More! (http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/iPad/Make+More%21/news.asp?c=67355), we wanted still to get one more major update for our puzzler RGB Express out. And finally with the step calculator feature, that was requested in this thread already ages ago . To keep things simple for newcomers, you need to complete 200 levels to unlock the feature. Whats new in RGB Express v1.4.0? * 40 new levels = now with 400 mind-bending puzzles * Optimized touch controls, improved drawing of the routes for your trucks * Expert Mode for the true connoisseurs of RGB Express: Try to design the shortest, most optimal route [Complete 200 levels to unlock the feature] * ... and a pile of smaller bugfixes and improvements And as a tribute to Back to the Future day today, all the new levels (Future I-III chapters) of course feature the modern day delivery vehicle, hoverboard! Hope you enjoy playing the update! All feedback is of course very welcome!
Testopi (or anyone else) - have you unlocked the Expert Mode? I just redownloaded it and completed 200 levels again, and got a message saying Expert unlocked, but I'm not seeing anything different when I play levels again, or any way to enable Expert Mode. Am I missing something?
Hi mr bez! There should be a flag icon under the settings (cogwheel) button now. If you enable it, the game mode shows the step counter in the top, and the level selection menu shows flags for the levels that you have completed with target number of steps ("par value") or under. If it for some reason does not work, please send me a PM and we'll have a look at it right away!
