I have probably spent a combined total of 4 hours on No Thanks Necessary, and I'm still at square one. This is driving me fucking crazy.
Just trying to complete it at all, or going for the challenge? I just got to that level.
I spent the first hour or so trying to be tricky.
Now it's a matter of "alright, maybe this will work", spending half an hour trying to develop it, and realizing why it won't work, being forced to delete it all and start over.
The reactor layout I used was:
Top input reactor sorts and unbinds O and N atoms. Sends them both to Reactor 1 (O in one pipe, N in the other)
Bottom input reactor splits the H and Na from the water and salt, and sends them to Reactor 2. The remainder (OH and Cl) is dumped to the recycler. H and Na don't get sorted, but a sensor IS used to improve efficiency (it will work without the sensor so figure it out yourself).
Reactor 1 takes O and N molecules and forms NO3 (don't worry about the double bond here, it's easier) which is sent to the Reactor 2.
Reactor 2 takes the H or Na from the bottom input, and the NO3 from Reactor 1, and binds them into the required molecules. Afterward, it sorts them to the appropriate outputs.
Another tip: everything can be done with the two waldos just following the same exact path (or nearly). So, just work out a single-waldo solution and then copy-paste it.
I can't seem to get anywhere on No Thanks Necessary tonight, some other night, I need sleep right now. I'm just happy I managed to crack the challenge on No Ordinary Headache, that is my accomplishment for the night.
Ugh, just checked how my No Thanks Necessary solution worked, and remembered what a hideous kludge it was. I think it's the only level so far where I have deliberately thrown away several useful elements just to stop the system locking up if the imbalance of random inputs gets too far skewed either way.
Man, I remember Falling being a huge pain in the ass my first time around, when I used four reactors. Now that I'm revisiting it for the 2-reactor challenge, I realize: holy damn is it like fifty times easier and twice as fast using only two reactors. I just never saw the obvious solution.
I have probably spent a combined total of 4 hours on No Thanks Necessary, and I'm still at square one. This is driving me fucking crazy.
Just trying to complete it at all, or going for the challenge? I just got to that level.
I spent the first hour or so trying to be tricky.
Now it's a matter of "alright, maybe this will work", spending half an hour trying to develop it, and realizing why it won't work, being forced to delete it all and start over.
I'm looking at a 3 reactor set up right now. One reactor creates NO3 out of the atmospheric pump, One pulls the hydrogen and sodium off the Oceanic Pump, and one creates the final Nitric Acid and Sodium Nitrate products.
Now to just start laying out the paths in the reactors and hope it works.
I posted this way back in the thread it´s my solution for it. I spent at least 3 hours trying to solve it and had to restart 3 times. Just left the link in case you want to figure it for yourself and then just compare results.
Wow, so lots of people are also stuck on No Ordinary Headache / No Thanks Necessary? That makes me feel better. I'm not even going for the challenges at this point. For "Headache", after setting up the first reactor to split Ns and Os and segregate them to different outputs, I decided to screw robustness once again and just made my second reactor put together Ns and Os into NO as they came in, with huge pipelines for Oxygen overflow. And then I saw "No Thanks Necessary" and decided I needed a more elegant solution to my problems.
Unfortunately, I don't do robustness and elegance very well. It's gonna be a long hill to climb...
Well don't let yourself down, I've gone to university for this kind of stuff.
With regards to the 1 reactor solution to that level, it's really hard to fit in all the logic to do the operations, as you can see in this youtube solution:
I just one-reactor'd that same level, and my solution is complicated, but nowhere near that bad. 56 symbols in mine, compared to 86 on his.
It'd be nice if it would save three solutions per level, one for each of the criteria; it's disappointing that in making a one-reactor solution I can't now compare its speed to other single-reactor solutions easily.
Added a video. One more symbol than the original solution in order to shave off a few cycles.
Edit: Hang on, that change *added* cycles? Hrmph. Well, the solution is much the same.
One tip that might be worthy of the first post, since I found it a nice alternative to the 'long pipe to prevent overflow' issue:
Output symbols block if the pipe is full and there's something in the output zone. Therefore, you can use an output as - effectively - a "do not continue until the output area is clear" syncer.
My nitrogen splitter in Nothing Works used both WALDOs independently, and when the pipe filled up, the red WALDO was trying to output and the blue was catching up and bringing the second Nitrogen atom into play; it would collide if left to its own devices. I placed an output on the blue path before the designated drop point for the atom, and so the blue would stall there until the spot was clear.
The slowest part by far is the reactor that pulls in N2 and O2 and outputs nitrogen monoxide and oxygen, the same design I came up with for No Ordinary Headache (posted above)
For No Thanks, you get O2 and N2 in the proper proportions. The only thing you need the recycler for is to take the junk from the NaCl / H2O reactor.
Yeah, "No Thanks Necessary" wasn't too bad. On to world 5 now. I was just mostly irked by the fact that I had to resort to a grossly unrobust solution for "No Ordinary Headache". A lot of the Production assignments seem to end up that way for me.
Ugh, I think my brain just died. Designing a working final reactor for More Than Machine was almost too much for me, but I got there in the end. Is there an easy way to do this, or do everyones solutions end up looking like this?
I considered breaking the chain into Al-O fragments in the previous reactor, but I don't think that would actually make this any simpler, just make it awkward in different ways. The other option was to make half of the loop in the previous reactor and just merge two of them with the Cr here, but that would have just made the previous reactor a nightmare instead of this one.
Why in God's name does 47 have to be a prime number?
I think there is some trick to fusion I'm not getting. I seem to be brute forcing everything.
I assume you're talking about Exploding Head Syndrome? Yeah, brute-forcing that one is the easiest way. Fuse whole water molecules (10 protons) until you get Hg (80), then hit the A switch to make it fuse just the hydrogens (sending the H-O to another reactor to make H2 and O2) until you get Pu, then hit the B switch (and turn off A) to send it off.
Alternatively, the blue waldo sitting on a huge line of SYNC instructions is the automated solution, but requires a bit more work I feel. You'd also need a second fusion reactor to perform the second step (Hg -> Pu).
Well, it does seem as though "No Ordinary Headache" is the big roadblock, since I haven't had as much trouble on an individual part of a solution since then, up to the end of world 6, and my solutions have had fairly good performance against the curve. I'm particularly proud of my Gas Works Park (1149/4/111) solution... though it was, again, non-robust (so many Carbons). First Challenge I've gotten, and I wasn't even going for it.
I went crazy optimizing Gas Works Park in an effort to avoid doing More Than Machine, and managed to get it down to 836/5/145. I could probably get it lower if I managed to speed up the carbon splitter at the start, but that's way too much hard work.
Why in God's name does 47 have to be a prime number?
I think there is some trick to fusion I'm not getting. I seem to be brute forcing everything.
I assume you're talking about Exploding Head Syndrome? Yeah, brute-forcing that one is the easiest way. Fuse whole water molecules (10 protons) until you get Hg (80), then hit the A switch to make it fuse just the hydrogens (sending the H-O to another reactor to make H2 and O2) until you get Pu, then hit the B switch (and turn off A) to send it off.
Alternatively, the blue waldo sitting on a huge line of SYNC instructions is the automated solution, but requires a bit more work I feel. You'd also need a second fusion reactor to perform the second step (Hg -> Pu).
Heh, it would have never, never occurred to me to use a manual switch to control an actual reaction as opposed to routing the outputs. In the event I basically did the huge line of sync instructions. Which is how I ended up doing most of the fusion problems. That's what I meant by "brute forcing".
I was so conditioned to using sync chains that I almost started to use them "The Plot Thickens". Instead, I used this slightly more efficient and elegant method:
Hahaha I somehow managed 7275 cycles on the Going Green challenge level. Most people are getting around 3000.
Oh well, at least I did it with less reactors than most.
I wish you could click on one of the bars and it would show you the distribution of the other variables for the solutions in that bin. That is, you could click on the 3 reactors bar and see how you did speed wise compared to other 3 reactor solutions.
lowlylowlycook on
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Tip: The soundtrack to the game isn't encrypted, there's a folder in the game file called "music" that has all 8 tracks in .ogg.
Makes really good background music while at work.
The official release is here, too: has 12 tracks, but it's probably just the same as the one included in the game - just split up differently. Might be worth sticking in the OP.
Tip: The soundtrack to the game isn't encrypted, there's a folder in the game file called "music" that has all 8 tracks in .ogg.
Makes really good background music while at work.
The official release is here, too: has 12 tracks, but it's probably just the same as the one included in the game - just split up differently. Might be worth sticking in the OP.
Awesome, thanks.
edit: I think the extra 4 tracks are those ones <15 seconds long.
So I can make ruby fragments for More than Machine and I can then fire the laser once but I can't seem to get it to fire the second time with my second ruby fragment. What am I missing?
lowlylowlycook on
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
So I can make ruby fragments for More than Machine and I can then fire the laser once but I can't seem to get it to fire the second time with my second ruby fragment. What am I missing?
It takes time for the laser to cool down before you can fire it again. It is quite annoying, since you can produce crystals much, much faster than it takes to recharge.
Goddamn assballs, I finally finished the last level. Technically I still have Applied Fusion to do, but that should be simple, if I can stop myself from trying for a 1-reactor solution.
The last level was a gigantic pain in the ass. Your inputs do NOT match up to the required outputs, and you don't have a recycler. Specifically, you have three inputs, A B C. For one full iteration on the most complex output, you need 6A, 1B, 3C. As a byproduct of 1B and 3C, you get 6 H2 molecules, 15 of which are needed by Output X. However, from 6A, you get 6 of another byproduct, which is ALSO needed by Output X, but only 2 are needed. So, the rates of production aren't even close to being balanced, and you do not have a recycler. Also, all your reactors are connected together in one big clusterfuck so if one stalls they all do, and there's not enough room to just spam storage tanks or pipes. Oh, and the byproduct from A that you have far too much of? You can't zap it with a fusion laser, so you're stuck with it.
Eventually I figured something out, but it only just BARELY worked... when I finally won, I thought the thing had jammed up again. I seriously wonder if there's a stable solution... I can IMAGINE one existing, but I have no idea how you could actually hook it up.
Well, I'm still designing the internals, but I think this is a workable layout. Similar to yours? Any problems I'm not seeing?
(SPOILERS for last level)
The plan is that the top left superbonder routes all C and H to the Fusion one, which reroutes all H, and will either fuse the C to Xe, or sends it along with the H.
So, I'm dumb. I downloaded the demo for this last night after I finished work at 1am.
I played up until the first multi-reactor level, where you have to make formaldehyde. In my first reactor, I built carbon monoxide. In my second reactor, I attempted to turn that into formaldehyde.
I'm having issues getting the waldos to position two hydrogen atoms, since I don't see any way to route a waldo such that it can drop off in two spots. Of course, it was also about 3am at that point, so *might* not have been at the top of my game, but ...
I see solutions on other maps that have loops / cloverleafs, etc. Everytime I try to create something like that, the paths just merge. What am I doing wrong?
So, I'm dumb. I downloaded the demo for this last night after I finished work at 1am.
I played up until the first multi-reactor level, where you have to make formaldehyde. In my first reactor, I built carbon monoxide. In my second reactor, I attempted to turn that into formaldehyde.
I'm having issues getting the waldos to position two hydrogen atoms, since I don't see any way to route a waldo such that it can drop off in two spots. Of course, it was also about 3am at that point, so *might* not have been at the top of my game, but ...
I see solutions on other maps that have loops / cloverleafs, etc. Everytime I try to create something like that, the paths just merge. What am I doing wrong?
The only way on the early levels to do that is to go straight across the grab instruction in two directions. Placing an arrow directly on it will force them to merge. So, go across it going left, drop that off, loop around, go across it going up, drop that off, repeat.
Well, I'm still designing the internals, but I think this is a workable layout. Similar to yours? Any problems I'm not seeing?
(SPOILERS for last level)
The plan is that the top left superbonder routes all C and H to the Fusion one, which reroutes all H, and will either fuse the C to Xe, or sends it along with the H.
More spoilers for the last level:
I can see that design working, but you need to make the Xenon out of 3 entire Ethylene molecules and a single carbon from the Pseudoethyne. You'll get 16 hydrogen atoms and one Omega atom out of that per iteration, and so you'll get to fire a missile (and fire the maneuvering jets once) every other iteration. You won't have any overflow, but it might be too slow...
Alternatively, you could stick with only using carbons, but then you're shifting an asston of hydrogens which you will have to dump into the maneuvering jets to get rid of, unless you can find something to do with the extra carbon from pulling a second Pseudoethyne per iteration. The issue is that you need an odd number of carbon atoms to make a Xenon atom, which does not play nice with things.
Posts
The reactor layout I used was:
Top input reactor sorts and unbinds O and N atoms. Sends them both to Reactor 1 (O in one pipe, N in the other)
Bottom input reactor splits the H and Na from the water and salt, and sends them to Reactor 2. The remainder (OH and Cl) is dumped to the recycler. H and Na don't get sorted, but a sensor IS used to improve efficiency (it will work without the sensor so figure it out yourself).
Reactor 1 takes O and N molecules and forms NO3 (don't worry about the double bond here, it's easier) which is sent to the Reactor 2.
Reactor 2 takes the H or Na from the bottom input, and the NO3 from Reactor 1, and binds them into the required molecules. Afterward, it sorts them to the appropriate outputs.
Another tip: everything can be done with the two waldos just following the same exact path (or nearly). So, just work out a single-waldo solution and then copy-paste it.
1 reactor (with over 5500 cycles)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?hd=1&v=EUsgoyGDI3I
8-)
edit:
I posted this way back in the thread it´s my solution for it. I spent at least 3 hours trying to solve it and had to restart 3 times. Just left the link in case you want to figure it for yourself and then just compare results.
Unfortunately, I don't do robustness and elegance very well. It's gonna be a long hill to climb...
I just one-reactor'd that same level, and my solution is complicated, but nowhere near that bad. 56 symbols in mine, compared to 86 on his.
It'd be nice if it would save three solutions per level, one for each of the criteria; it's disappointing that in making a one-reactor solution I can't now compare its speed to other single-reactor solutions easily.
Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair
Edit: Hang on, that change *added* cycles? Hrmph. Well, the solution is much the same.
One tip that might be worthy of the first post, since I found it a nice alternative to the 'long pipe to prevent overflow' issue:
My nitrogen splitter in Nothing Works used both WALDOs independently, and when the pipe filled up, the red WALDO was trying to output and the blue was catching up and bringing the second Nitrogen atom into play; it would collide if left to its own devices. I placed an output on the blue path before the designated drop point for the atom, and so the blue would stall there until the spot was clear.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?hd=1&v=Fve3aC0OBE0
The slowest part by far is the reactor that pulls in N2 and O2 and outputs nitrogen monoxide and oxygen, the same design I came up with for No Ordinary Headache (posted above)
Yeah, "No Thanks Necessary" wasn't too bad. On to world 5 now. I was just mostly irked by the fact that I had to resort to a grossly unrobust solution for "No Ordinary Headache". A lot of the Production assignments seem to end up that way for me.
I considered breaking the chain into Al-O fragments in the previous reactor, but I don't think that would actually make this any simpler, just make it awkward in different ways. The other option was to make half of the loop in the previous reactor and just merge two of them with the Cr here, but that would have just made the previous reactor a nightmare instead of this one.
EDIT: In case you can't see clearly, what I have is
O-O
| |
H H
But it's not registering as hydrogen peroxide.
I think there is some trick to fusion I'm not getting. I seem to be brute forcing everything.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
I assume you're talking about Exploding Head Syndrome? Yeah, brute-forcing that one is the easiest way. Fuse whole water molecules (10 protons) until you get Hg (80), then hit the A switch to make it fuse just the hydrogens (sending the H-O to another reactor to make H2 and O2) until you get Pu, then hit the B switch (and turn off A) to send it off.
Alternatively, the blue waldo sitting on a huge line of SYNC instructions is the automated solution, but requires a bit more work I feel. You'd also need a second fusion reactor to perform the second step (Hg -> Pu).
Heh, it would have never, never occurred to me to use a manual switch to control an actual reaction as opposed to routing the outputs. In the event I basically did the huge line of sync instructions. Which is how I ended up doing most of the fusion problems. That's what I meant by "brute forcing".
I was so conditioned to using sync chains that I almost started to use them "The Plot Thickens". Instead, I used this slightly more efficient and elegant method:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?hd=1&v=XtvOeE5tqe8
[edit] Fucking Youtube embedding, how does it work?
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Oh well, at least I did it with less reactors than most.
Makes really good background music while at work.
I wish you could click on one of the bars and it would show you the distribution of the other variables for the solutions in that bin. That is, you could click on the 3 reactors bar and see how you did speed wise compared to other 3 reactor solutions.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
The official release is here, too: has 12 tracks, but it's probably just the same as the one included in the game - just split up differently. Might be worth sticking in the OP.
Awesome, thanks.
edit: I think the extra 4 tracks are those ones <15 seconds long.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
It takes time for the laser to cool down before you can fire it again. It is quite annoying, since you can produce crystals much, much faster than it takes to recharge.
Had some problems with the cycle efficiency though haha
The last level was a gigantic pain in the ass. Your inputs do NOT match up to the required outputs, and you don't have a recycler. Specifically, you have three inputs, A B C. For one full iteration on the most complex output, you need 6A, 1B, 3C. As a byproduct of 1B and 3C, you get 6 H2 molecules, 15 of which are needed by Output X. However, from 6A, you get 6 of another byproduct, which is ALSO needed by Output X, but only 2 are needed. So, the rates of production aren't even close to being balanced, and you do not have a recycler. Also, all your reactors are connected together in one big clusterfuck so if one stalls they all do, and there's not enough room to just spam storage tanks or pipes. Oh, and the byproduct from A that you have far too much of? You can't zap it with a fusion laser, so you're stuck with it.
Eventually I figured something out, but it only just BARELY worked... when I finally won, I thought the thing had jammed up again. I seriously wonder if there's a stable solution... I can IMAGINE one existing, but I have no idea how you could actually hook it up.
(SPOILERS for last level)
The plan is that the top left superbonder routes all C and H to the Fusion one, which reroutes all H, and will either fuse the C to Xe, or sends it along with the H.
I thought I had an idea to increase the efficiency so I redesigned the first two reactors
I played up until the first multi-reactor level, where you have to make formaldehyde. In my first reactor, I built carbon monoxide. In my second reactor, I attempted to turn that into formaldehyde.
I'm having issues getting the waldos to position two hydrogen atoms, since I don't see any way to route a waldo such that it can drop off in two spots. Of course, it was also about 3am at that point, so *might* not have been at the top of my game, but ...
I see solutions on other maps that have loops / cloverleafs, etc. Everytime I try to create something like that, the paths just merge. What am I doing wrong?
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
The only way on the early levels to do that is to go straight across the grab instruction in two directions. Placing an arrow directly on it will force them to merge. So, go across it going left, drop that off, loop around, go across it going up, drop that off, repeat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?hd=1&v=PhgFuEo19iM
More spoilers for the last level:
Alternatively, you could stick with only using carbons, but then you're shifting an asston of hydrogens which you will have to dump into the maneuvering jets to get rid of, unless you can find something to do with the extra carbon from pulling a second Pseudoethyne per iteration. The issue is that you need an odd number of carbon atoms to make a Xenon atom, which does not play nice with things.