I'm not a big fan of these "leveled" puzzle games. But I gave this one a try and it really is great fun to play. Just all around nicely crafted game that is fun to interact with. I would encourage anybody remotely interested to get it.
Excellent, OneManBand. Very impressed to know that these puzzles were handcrafted. I am making my way through the "core" puzzles. They are amazingly sophisticated. I found the puzzles that use the teleporter/swappers particularly challenging, because the module often opens up too many possibilities to test. Wondering if you could share some insights in how you made those puzzles... Solving them is one thing, but creating them takes far more skillz! I am particularly interested in knowing how you put the different components together without them crashing with each other once the sequence starts. Do you start with a "final" track of where the dot should go and then try to imagine what modules will help with each step of that track?
@y2kmp3 There's not a lot of secret things going on in the building of levels. Just experimenting pretty much the whole time while toying around with different modules.
Thanks, I'm moving again and built up a supply of hints. I've gotta be more patient before using them. Also I just want to say this is a great game, as a programmer myself, there's nothing like seeing something you put together work and do what it's supposed to do! You've done a great job with these hand-made levels. I don't know if someone else has done it too, but I finished 51 with 4 extra modules!
I, too, have a solution that is more optimal than the intended solution. Can you share which modules you did NOT have to use to solve level 51?
Gamecoder, Thanks. I was able to reproduce your presumed solution that did not use 4 modules as you hinted. Nice find! Your solution was far more elegant than my original one and used lesser number of modules.
Maxim, something you might consider implementing nearer term is an unlockable sandbox mode, where n instances of all of the modules are made available for each of the existing nodes. Given the way the game works, I doesn't seem like this would required much additional coding. After all, user sequences are already saved - some with many modules - whether they work or not. Folks could then take a crack at crafting their own sequences and posting the applicable modules here for others to solve. You could even collect a set as remixes, assuming each creator agrees - say with credit given in an ending - and no TA rules are violated.
A sandbox mode would be great in the shorter term, even if a full-blown level editor doesn't come to fruition at the end of the day.
I think, I going to be able to add some kind of sandbox mode to the game. It's going to look like a set of levels, like a regular set of levels, but without premade solutions and unlimited amount of modules. It absolutely takes no difficulty for me to made up a few dozens of such levels, but if some of you want to create something just for fun, go for it. I attached a template to the post. Use any graphic editor, or maybe even a pencil. I can throw in some levels in the sandbox mode from the regular set of them just as well. Let me know which of them you would like to see in the sandbox mode.
Level 23 I'm utterly utterly stuck on Level 23 - which is annoying since I stormed through 22 and 24. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Finished game. Some very difficult and nonintuitive "core" levels. Still convinced that the teleporter module is too powerful as it overlaps the functionalities of other modules. Very well designed, though caution that game is for expert players only if aim to complete all of the levels. As previously stated by other posters, many levels can be solved with "shortcut" solutions without using all of the modules. On the other hand, those levels that require the use of all of the modules (as far as I can tell) have a very restricted solution space. For me, the most difficult level by far is Level 61. This is because, unlike all other levels (as far as I can recall), for this level, Spoiler TWO instead of ONE binary cells are retrieved per cycle / sequence. Usually, the strategy is to retrieve ONLY ONE binary cell for each cycle / sequence, transport it to the collector, before retrieving the next binary cell to continue on. This is not possible in Level 61, thus any setup that relies on the latter assumption will not work . The level is deviously difficult because of this.
9x16, Can you post screenshots showing your alternative solutions to Levels 48, 52, and 69? I am having trouble reproducing your solutions without using the modules that you cited.
My solutions to 57, 59 and 72 were like this too. I was expecting puzzles like this before I got to them though. It's the only reason I can see why you have to get 4 binary cells to the exit for the game to confirm your cycle is repeatable.
mr_bez, This is most interesting. For levels 57 and 59, my solutions indeed at one point have the next binary cell appearing before the previous binary cell arrives at the collector site. However, the sequence itself is STILL single cycle in length since the repeating elements are operating the same with the same "relative" positions of the binary cells and all states of the modules at any given phase of the cycle. By contrast, for level 61, my solution involves a sequence that is TWO cycles in length in which the relative states of the modules change and go out of phase between the cycles and only reset itself once the current sequence is completed and next sequence begins. For Level 72, my solution is typical of other levels. Single cycle all of the way through. At no point do two binary cells appear at the same time within any phase of the cycle. Truly impressed by the game's depth and solution space. Maynoam, Can you post a screenshot showing your solution for level 61 that is truly single-cycle only as you said?
I saw Y2kmp3 play this game so I had to try it, and its very interesting, I like this sort of puzzle games. Too bad there is no Gamecenter, to all developers when you make a game first thing to Get in is Gamecenter, its very important, note very very important ha ha.
