dont mind them. Sometimes people cannot understand the mechanics of the game and just whine about it. for instance, the module order is a part of the puzzle. Not rearranging them automatically is part of the charm of the game, but they dont get it. let them be.
New update of the Sequence is now available on AppStore. Please let me know if everything works like it should.
Level numbers! Thanks, that does make it easier to discuss the game. Everything seems to work fine here, the game had remembered my progress on (apparently) level 27. I can somewhat relate to that reviewer who was frustrated because they were out of hints (though it's too harsh and unfair to give it one star because of that). It's the one thing I do not like about this game: that progression is so strict, that you cannot skip a level. I don't know if you're open to reconsidering that, I assume you have your reasons for doing it this way and I respect that, but it's such a shame if you're stuck early on. I think allowing to skip levels (you could just have a skip option and mark them in a different color on the map, so it's easy to revisit them later) is better than more hints, because you don't really feel like you solved a puzzle if you keep using hints.
OneManBand, What a superb game this is! Reminds me a lot of SpaceChem in terms of logical thinking and programming. I find SpaceChem too unwieldy to learn and overly complicated. This game, by comparison, is very focused and just as clever. I want to know if there are levels that are solvable without using all of the modules? If so, which ones? As the levels get more complicated, I can only imagine someone is able to find alternative or shortcuts solutions that are not unintended by the developer?
In post #111, I documented the nodes I managed to solve with spare modules, along with the specifics. I'm actually planning on going back and solving those as intended by the dev, but it would be interesting to see what other combinations folks come up with.
I have not looked at the list (deliberately) but will consult it once I finished the game myself. Is this list exhaustive? Does the developer know how many alternative solutions exist?
Unfortunately i can`t say more than @9x16. Of course I know about alternative solutions, but dont know their exact amount.
I'm on level 29, I'm out of hints, and I'm totally stuck. I got two hints on this before I ran out... The hints show Spoiler a pusher at r5c6 and a module turner (clockwise) at r6c4 . I see that some of you geniuses have managed to solve it with Spoiler only 3 modules . Sorcery. Great game, but for me, the levels either click immediately, or I sit on them for a couple hours till I just start throwing modules at the puzzle to see what works.
I haven't updated, so I don't think of the nodes in terms of numbers yet. But if you're talking about the one at r4c5, the key for me, to solving the node with Spoiler three modules was that Spoiler Generators are treated as points - not volumes - when it comes to rotators .
The second spoiler there... I knew that. I'd tested it, even. But that sparked the thought train enough to try the Spoiler module turner on the puller . Ended up with the solution in a couple seconds. Can't believe I didn't see it earlier. Eleventy billion points to you! Also, thanks to Candykiller for responding to my frustrations as well. Eleventy-billion-minus-one points to you!
OneManBand, A couple of thoughts for your consideration... I feel that the swapping module is far too flexible and powerful, and the fact that it can reorient the modules being exchanged at the same time duplicates the other modules' functionality. Is this being implemented this way because the added functionality is required in order to solve some of the later levels for which the same function cannot be served by just using additional modules (such as the rotating module)? Agree with previous posters that there are many very clever puzzles. Discovered at least one alternate solution so far that does not require the use of all modules to solve. Additionally, I can confirm that different solutions exist for some levels that are more than just trivial variants. These non-trivial variants actually have ENTIRELY DIFFERENT modules connecting to each other (the connections themselves are different) with very different path maps. I like to have an option to "manually" stepwalk through the sequence? In later levels, the sequence is so complex that playing at normal speed is still too fast for troubleshooting. Having to use the pause button repeatedly is suboptimal because you need precise timing to pull off to clearly visualize each step. This is particularly true for parts of the sequence that are at times inactive. Can you consider implementing this by adding another icon in the playback option (reminds of the frame-by-frame option on an old VHS (yes, I have seen a working VHS in my youth))?
To be fair, the dev has already responded to this suggestion, saying that he spent a long time trying to implement a step-by-step option, but it was too difficult and involved too much work. (see comment #90)
@y2kmp3 "Swapping module" allowed me to add a peculiar and exceptional mechanic to lots of levels, that's the reason it exist. I think, you are going to observe it while continue to playing more and more of the game. Concerning old school VHS "frame-by-frame" button, I'm still thinking about it. If I'm going to figure out a relatively easy way to implement this button, then surely I will throw it in the build.
Good to hear the explanation, OneManBand. I will look to seeing the full extent of the mechanics enabled by this new module. Wonderful to hear that that may be a possibility for the "frame-by-frame" button. Discovered another level with a shortcut solution that did not require the use of all modules.
I am in the "extra" levels now. The levels are brutally complex. Having read 9x16's comment that he/she was able to finish the entire game without using any hints, there is a lot to be said there! Wow! Congrats to 9x16! Having solved a few of these "extra" levels now, however, I am a bit worried if the levels' inherent complexity simply represents how the levels are constructed using a "backward" approach. Because the locations of the start and destination tiles as well as all of the blocked tiles are entirely arbitrary, one can easily construct an incredibly complex chain reaction and then simply use the input and output of this reaction as the initial condition of the puzzles. This "backward" puzzle-generating approach is akin to how Sokoban puzzles can be generated whereby it is easy to construct unduly complex crate layouts which are very difficult to solve. In this type of puzzles, it is easy to create the puzzles, but it is very difficult to solve them. A litmus test on whether or not this approach is used in this game is to systemically examine how many "shortcut" solutions can be discovered that are different from the intended solutions. If there is a lot of shortcut solutions, then it raises the question on exactly what process is used to create the levels in this game. Perhaps OneManBand and 9x16 can comment on this...
I can say with confidence that I didn't employ "backward" puzzle-generating, I can hardly imagine how it is possible in this kind of game. Appearance of alternate solutions is natural because it's (kind of) impossible to evaluate all the possible options (especially in complex levels), since every level is an outcome of human's thinking and not an outcome of a program. It took 6 months to create the game and about a single month (subtracting from these 6 months) to build all of the levels. There is 72 levels in total in the game, and the only reason of this is because I couldn't come up with more of original levels. I wouldn't have stopped in making more levels if I really used an easy technique for that or some kind of a program.
