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[ChemistryOn!] SpaceChem! Demo on Steam, good for four hours.

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Posts

  • ZedarZedar Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    I managed 748 with 84 symbols, but I spent an unhealthy amount of time optimizing that level.

    Zedar on
    steam_sig.png
  • OrcaOrca Also known as Espressosaurus WrexRegistered User regular
    edited April 2011
    The defense one isn't so bad, actually. In-place swap made my brain hurt when I first tried to solve it however.

    I'm stuck on Molecular Foundry at the moment--my current attempt ends up with too many bonds and isn't synced up right...argh.

    Orca on
  • LockeColeLockeCole Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    I had a massive brain fart on one of the first maps with the fusion operator - basically confused atomic number and atomic mass on one element so ended up doing it in a really ass backwards way.

    LockeCole on
  • HeliosHelios Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    I'm totally out of practice with this game but I thought I'd give it a go for the TF2 stuff because, well, hats.

    The first two are easy and the third one is either fairly hard or I'm suffering from a severe mental blockage.

    I've included my solution in the spoiler, look upon it and laugh at my excessive use of SYNC.

    Helios on
    Who is driving?
    Oh my god, bear is driving!
  • HeliosHelios Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Gah, lame, it's not even good for any hats.

    Helios on
    Who is driving?
    Oh my god, bear is driving!
  • Raiden333Raiden333 Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Fucking finally.

    I was stuck on No Thanks Necessary for like a month, and I finally had a brainstorm that helped me solve it.

    No achievement, but I'm only 500 cycles short, so I could probably get it pretty easily with some minor optimization.

    Raiden333 on
    There was a steam sig here. It's gone now.
  • TarTar Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    Bought this now that finals are over... wow, how did this fly under my rader. This game is very good, and very challenging, very little hand holding (i approve of this). I see many future hours sucked away by this game.

    Tar on
    AC:WW 2191.0414.2547 Tar in Red Hill PM me if you add me!
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  • LockeColeLockeCole Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    I'm stuck on the Kraken level now :P I understand in a general sense how to do this, but making plutonium is annoying - stupid large prime number divisors.

    LockeCole on
  • MonthenorMonthenor Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    LockeCole wrote: »
    I'm stuck on the Kraken level now :P I understand in a general sense how to do this, but making plutonium is annoying - stupid large prime number divisors.

    I did this level in a pretty terrible way using all four manual switches. The first switch controlled whether the water input was sent to my sensible h2o2 factories or The Plutonium Abacus. Once inside The Plutonium Abacus, water was cracked into H / O and a single O was moved into position on the fusion pad. Switch B added an oxygen. Switch C added a hydrogen. Switch D took the fusion output and sent it to the rocket...and heaven help you if it wasn't plutonium yet.

    That's the only level I've played entirely in the slowest speed. I had to dance across all four switches to keep any pipes from backing up but also ensure plutonium was made as fast as possible. I think my best score was around 2200 cycles.

    The Plutonium Abacus is also a pretty good band name.

    Monthenor on
  • LockeColeLockeCole Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    Monthenor wrote: »
    LockeCole wrote: »
    I'm stuck on the Kraken level now :P I understand in a general sense how to do this, but making plutonium is annoying - stupid large prime number divisors.

    I did this level in a pretty terrible way using all four manual switches. The first switch controlled whether the water input was sent to my sensible h2o2 factories or The Plutonium Abacus. Once inside The Plutonium Abacus, water was cracked into H / O and a single O was moved into position on the fusion pad. Switch B added an oxygen. Switch C added a hydrogen. Switch D took the fusion output and sent it to the rocket...and heaven help you if it wasn't plutonium yet.

    That's the only level I've played entirely in the slowest speed. I had to dance across all four switches to keep any pipes from backing up but also ensure plutonium was made as fast as possible. I think my best score was around 2200 cycles.

    The Plutonium Abacus is also a pretty good band name.

    hahahaha - wow I completely forgot about the manual switches.

    LockeCole on
  • OrcaOrca Also known as Espressosaurus WrexRegistered User regular
    edited May 2011
    LockeCole wrote: »
    Monthenor wrote: »
    LockeCole wrote: »
    I'm stuck on the Kraken level now :P I understand in a general sense how to do this, but making plutonium is annoying - stupid large prime number divisors.

    I did this level in a pretty terrible way using all four manual switches. The first switch controlled whether the water input was sent to my sensible h2o2 factories or The Plutonium Abacus. Once inside The Plutonium Abacus, water was cracked into H / O and a single O was moved into position on the fusion pad. Switch B added an oxygen. Switch C added a hydrogen. Switch D took the fusion output and sent it to the rocket...and heaven help you if it wasn't plutonium yet.

    That's the only level I've played entirely in the slowest speed. I had to dance across all four switches to keep any pipes from backing up but also ensure plutonium was made as fast as possible. I think my best score was around 2200 cycles.

    The Plutonium Abacus is also a pretty good band name.

    hahahaha - wow I completely forgot about the manual switches.

    I abused the shit out of them for the one where you're defending against a floating pyramid. :D

    Orca on
  • Raiden333Raiden333 Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    Orca wrote: »
    LockeCole wrote: »
    Monthenor wrote: »
    LockeCole wrote: »
    I'm stuck on the Kraken level now :P I understand in a general sense how to do this, but making plutonium is annoying - stupid large prime number divisors.

    I did this level in a pretty terrible way using all four manual switches. The first switch controlled whether the water input was sent to my sensible h2o2 factories or The Plutonium Abacus. Once inside The Plutonium Abacus, water was cracked into H / O and a single O was moved into position on the fusion pad. Switch B added an oxygen. Switch C added a hydrogen. Switch D took the fusion output and sent it to the rocket...and heaven help you if it wasn't plutonium yet.

    That's the only level I've played entirely in the slowest speed. I had to dance across all four switches to keep any pipes from backing up but also ensure plutonium was made as fast as possible. I think my best score was around 2200 cycles.

    The Plutonium Abacus is also a pretty good band name.

    hahahaha - wow I completely forgot about the manual switches.

    I abused the shit out of them for the one where you're defending against a floating pyramid. :D

    Really? I thought that one was rather easy and didn't even bother to incorporate them into my design.
    Reactor one: Splits the incoming random molecule into 3 separated atoms. Oxygen is always in the same position in all 3 molecules, so it get carried to reactor 2. Then, the waldos pick up the 2 left over atoms and run them through a scanner. If they're hydrogen, they also go to reactor 2, via the same slot the oxygen was dropped at. If they're Uranium, they go straight to the shooter.

    Reactor 2: Takes incoming random Oxygen and Hydrogen, runs them through a scanner, and splits them up to make the next reactor easier.

    Reactor 3: Takes Oxygen from the top, Hydrogen from the bottom, and makes H2O2. Sends it to the shooter.

    Raiden333 on
    There was a steam sig here. It's gone now.
  • OrcaOrca Also known as Espressosaurus WrexRegistered User regular
    edited May 2011
    I found I could kill the thing faster by storing up reactants and firing when it was vulnerable. I don't remember what I was starved on, but I just remember that I was bouncing between ~60 and 75% duty cycle when I didn't use the switches.

    Orca on
  • Raiden333Raiden333 Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    Speed doesn't really matter if you can click the lightspeed button and have the level end in success. :P

    I don't really care how I rate up on leaderboards on the boss levels.

    Raiden333 on
    There was a steam sig here. It's gone now.
  • MrBlarneyMrBlarney Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    ResearchNet is so satisfying. No matter what, you just have to be pleased when you solve a SpaceChem puzzle, whether it be rated a level-1, or a level-3. It's even better when there aren't many scores on the table and you find that your own solution is nicely on the left side of the graph. (Vol I, Issue VI: Silica {399/1/29}; Galvanization {1785/1/43}) Now if I only had the kind of mind to come up with my own puzzles to maybe see my name in the Journal of Reaction Engineering...

    MrBlarney on
    4463rwiq7r47.png
  • fadingathedgesfadingathedges Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    SpaceChem seems to be 50% off, making it $7.49.

    fadingathedges on
  • fadingathedgesfadingathedges Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    Is it me or did SpaceChem just SpaceDelete all my progress and reset me to the SpaceTutorial?

    e~ False alarm. It was trying to shove me to the next planet after a crash, I was trying to complete both the optional branches on the previous level.

    fadingathedges on
  • EntriechEntriech ? ? ? ? ? Ontario, CanadaRegistered User regular
    edited May 2011
    Oh my god, this game is fantastic. Everyone needs to get on this for 50% off on Steam.
    The best part is the elation I feel every time my solution works, followed by the crushing sense of failure when it shows me the graphs of how I compare to everyone else.

    Entriech on
  • lowlylowlycooklowlylowlycook Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    SpaceChem seems to be 50% off, making it $7.49.

    Does German have a word for the frustration one feels at not being able to buy a game on Steam because you already own the game on Steam?

    lowlylowlycook on
    steam_sig.png
    (Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
  • ElvenshaeElvenshae Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    SpaceChem seems to be 50% off, making it $7.49.

    Does German have a word for the frustration one feels at not being able to buy a game on Steam because you already own the game on Steam?

    Geheinaschmeltzigflugen.

    Elvenshae on
  • EntriechEntriech ? ? ? ? ? Ontario, CanadaRegistered User regular
    edited May 2011
    So I was looking up a trailer for Spacechem this morning to show my friends in an effort to direct them to purchase it, and the first thing I saw was them moving bonders. I completely forgot that you could do that.
    No wonder my solutions have been so much more complicated than necessary.

    Entriech on
  • MonthenorMonthenor Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    Entriech wrote: »
    So I was looking up a trailer for Spacechem this morning to show my friends in an effort to direct them to purchase it, and the first thing I saw was them moving bonders. I completely forgot that you could do that.
    No wonder my solutions have been so much more complicated than necessary.

    The fact that solutions are even possible without moving bonders is the greatest testament to SpaceChem's design. I can't even conceive of doing a puzzle with the bonders all clumped in the middle like that.

    Monthenor on
  • ZedarZedar Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    My partner just started playing this yesterday, I'm having fun watching him try to work out what is going on. He was so upset when he realized he was going to have to cross over his lines to get things working, he was so fixated on neat solutions. I'm now frantically going through all the early levels again and optimizing my times so he doesn't bet me on the high score board when he reaches them.

    Zedar on
    steam_sig.png
  • Raiden333Raiden333 Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    Stopped my extended break from this and made some more progress. I think the solution to my latest level (Unknown Sender) is pretty ingenious and elegant if I do say so myself.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBkNFfoZfpw

    Raiden333 on
    There was a steam sig here. It's gone now.
  • MrBlarneyMrBlarney Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    I think we're gonna need to set up some Steam connections for this game to compare scores. I'm MrBlarney. (But of course.)

    MrBlarney on
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  • ZedarZedar Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    My account is in my sig if people want to friend me for comparison.

    Zedar on
    steam_sig.png
  • MrBlarneyMrBlarney Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    Dangit Zedar, your scores have driven me to optimization. Normally, I try to come up with solutions that are a balance between cycles used and symbols used. Now I have to tune my solutions to be either low cycles or low symbols to beat some of your scores... Multiple Outputs, for instance, I have three scores in my files: [177/1/11], [83/1/17], [77/1/24]. On the other hand, striving to improve myself hasn't been so bad: I am quite proud of my Gas Works Park [828/4/73] solution.

    MrBlarney on
    4463rwiq7r47.png
  • ZedarZedar Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    Haha, I only got those scores because my partner also plays and has me beaten on pretty much every level. Seeing someone with a better score is a great motivator.

    Zedar on
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  • mrt144mrt144 King of the Numbernames Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    This game is fucking awesome. SO much time spent so far, so much fun.

    mrt144 on
  • TomantaTomanta Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    This thread needs a revival. Let's start with my incredibly inefficient solution to No Ordinary Headache, after several days of being stuck on it.

    But I just had another idea that should be much more efficient. Maybe I'll come back to it at some point, but for now I'm just happy to be past it.

    No Ordinary Headache

    Tomanta on
  • MrBlarneyMrBlarney Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    If anyone out there needed incentive to go back to SpaceChem, there's a one-world, seven-stage DLC pre-release as a prize during the Steam Summer Sale. Three tickets shouldn't be too difficult to pick up, and even if you can't, it should only be a couple bucks after the Sale is over.

    MrBlarney on
    4463rwiq7r47.png
  • Raiden333Raiden333 Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    MrBlarney wrote: »
    If anyone out there needed incentive to go back to SpaceChem, there's a one-world, seven-stage DLC pre-release as a prize during the Steam Summer Sale. Three tickets shouldn't be too difficult to pick up, and even if you can't, it should only be a couple bucks after the Sale is over.

    You can get 3 tickets literally without buying a single thing.

    1. Join the official group
    2. Link your steam account to a facebook account.
    3. Take and post a screenshot.

    Raiden333 on
    There was a steam sig here. It's gone now.
  • eelektrikeelektrik Southern CaliforniaRegistered User regular
    edited July 2011
    Raiden333 wrote: »
    MrBlarney wrote: »
    If anyone out there needed incentive to go back to SpaceChem, there's a one-world, seven-stage DLC pre-release as a prize during the Steam Summer Sale. Three tickets shouldn't be too difficult to pick up, and even if you can't, it should only be a couple bucks after the Sale is over.

    You can get 3 tickets literally without buying a single thing.

    1. Join the official group
    2. Link your steam account to a facebook account.
    3. Take and post a screenshot.

    For the Facebook haters out there, there are other options that dont cost money, such as Download and watch a video through Steam, or play a demo, recommend a game, or comment on a friends profile.

    eelektrik on
    (She/Her)
  • carmofincarmofin Registered User regular
    Man just got this form HiB,but to my shame all the data from the demo I played is still there and turns out everyone in my friendslist did more efficient solutions for everything! I hate this, I thought I', awesome just for solving this at all...

    PSN | Steam
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    Throw me a PM if you add me
  • APODionysusAPODionysus Registered User regular
    edited October 2011
    So... this game is tough. I'm honestly afraid to even start working on 3-2 because Im intimidated. I think it would help if I just let go trying to have decent symbol usage and cycle counts.

    By the way, is it just me or is the criteria for a molecule being in the Out Box enough to actually go Out kinda.. wonky?

    EDIT: 3-2 done, though my cycle count is insane... 3-3 however.... what the... I dont even...

    APODionysus on
  • GarthorGarthor Registered User regular
    So... this game is tough. I'm honestly afraid to even start working on 3-2 because Im intimidated. I think it would help if I just let go trying to have decent symbol usage and cycle counts.

    By the way, is it just me or is the criteria for a molecule being in the Out Box enough to actually go Out kinda.. wonky?

    There are two dead columns in the middle of the reactor. The molecule has to be entirely within one of the 4x4 boxes in the top/bottom right to go out.

  • APODionysusAPODionysus Registered User regular
    edited October 2011
    Wait. Now I get reactors that can onl remove or add bonds but not both? And I have to make Ethane? May the Gods have mercy on me...

    Time for a Borderlands break.

    EDIT: Oh my god, Im an idiot
    I dotn have to break everything down into individual carbons and hydrogens... its so much simpler than that!

    APODionysus on
  • AthenorAthenor Battle Hardened Optimist The Skies of HiigaraRegistered User regular
    I think the boss of 4 is going to be the end of me.

    I almost, ALMOST had it...
    My first reactor breaks the water and dirty water down into HO/U and O/H. The O/H goes to a second reactor that makes HO as well. The third reactor takes the OH and HO/U input and makes the final chemicals for the reaction, and then the fourth reactor acts as gatekeeper.

    The problem is that my third reactor is ungoldy complex and occasionally spits out an HO instead of H2O2. I created a crude holding place for that in my fourth reactor, but it doesn't matter - the reaction catches a snag somewhere along the line and blows up. The biggest problem is that the O/H reactor is just there to catch excess, so to keep the reaction moving fast I had it set up so that the third reactor could make Hydrogen Peroxide using only 1 input, then when the second input did eventually make stuff the chain could pick it up and use it instead. The part where it broke wasn't even that interaction, it was just that every now and then the trigger would misfire.

    I've been working on this for 5 hours, and some of it was completely nullified by my originally having a 3/1 split for molecules in the first reactor, which made it IMPOSSIBLE to properly split up things. Now I'm pretty much dejected and I need to figure out an alternative.

    He/Him | "A boat is always safest in the harbor, but that’s not why we build boats." | "If you run, you gain one. If you move forward, you gain two." - Suletta Mercury, G-Witch
  • AthenorAthenor Battle Hardened Optimist The Skies of HiigaraRegistered User regular
    Yay! Got it.. through damned luck. I changed the reactor that was giving me troubles to a slower, synced reactor that was a ton less efficient. But it got the job done - after I put in a divert for a single anomaly in the pattern, and then got damned lucky that my first plant got backed up in such a way as to not cause a failure. But it's done! Moving on, then...

    He/Him | "A boat is always safest in the harbor, but that’s not why we build boats." | "If you run, you gain one. If you move forward, you gain two." - Suletta Mercury, G-Witch
  • Ninja Snarl PNinja Snarl P My helmet is my burden. Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered User regular
    Picked this up thanks to that Indie Bundle thing.

    Ho. Lee. Sheee. It. This game kicks so much ass. It's so hard but makes you feel so smart when you get things figured out. More than once, I've spent a couple hours working out some complex system then had a bright idea, scrapped the whole system, and done something entirely different and it ends up working. One helluva game.

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