I think this is the only game I've ever played where upon completing a level I feel awesome, then I see how everyone else did and I'm right back to feeling stupid again.
That's the beauty of it. Getting a solution is just the beginning. Those top solutions have likely been optimized, several times over.
Hopefully, I can do better this year. At least I'll be able to get in on this one from the start.
Oh, absolutely. It might be nice to see how we all do as a group over here.
ContentContext, looks like you would have probably made top 16 last year if you had been in from the start... I mostly only got my rank going into the closed tournament last time due to the fact I submitted something for every challenge.
That's the spirit. I was a little worried about the number of puzzles per week, but it seems alright, so far. The real test will be when the difficulty ramps up. Also, I kind of miss being able to read the SA thread. Seeing people boast about their cycle/symbol ranges made me take harder looks at my solutions.
Hmmmmm - well, my first blush at Fructose Factory gives <150 cycles using <30 symbols.
Looking at the weird waldo paths I've got, I'm sure the number of symbols can definitely go down - I also have a feeling that the cycles can go down if I nut at it more, but I think for now, I'll move on.
Edit:
Hahaha, I didn't notice Misfortune Modifier's 33%/33%/33% random placement until now
The general guideline, if you want to talk about cycle/symbol counts, is to use rounded numbers, like "sub-150 cycles" for example for your Fructose Factory solution. As far as the SA thread goes, there hasn't been any benchmark talk so far, but then again it is still quite early in the solving period.
So far, I'm very pleased with the quality of the puzzles in the first set. Considering the creativity of these puzzles, I'm afraid to think of what will come up in the rest of the open tournament.
I seem to be terrible at optimising for cycles but tend to naturally create solutions with low symbol counts. Got solutions in for all now but the only 1 I'm really happy with is my challenge solution and that's only because I think it's elegant, I doubt it'll come close to the best solutions on cycles or symbols.
I seem to be terrible at optimising for cycles but tend to naturally create solutions with low symbol counts. Got solutions in for all now but the only 1 I'm really happy with is my challenge solution and that's only because I think it's elegant, I doubt it'll come close to the best solutions on cycles or symbols.
I am the exact opposite.
I am perfectly happen to throw symbols at a problem just to make the solution go that extra cycle faster.
There we go - Sun Simulator - < 140 cycles @ < 40 symbols
Looks like I need to shave off some cycles on a few solutions. I'm fairly happy with Misfortune Modifier and its challenge version, at sub-100 and sub-300, respectively. Fortunately, this first round is long, so there's plenty of time to make improvements.
I appear to need to knock about 50 cycles off each of my solutions other than perhaps the challenge 1 to be competitive. I didn't think I was too bad at this game but I'm at a loss here. Although in the process of writing this I've just thought of a possibility for Fructose Factory.
edit: Well that idea only saved me 15 cycles. Guess it's progress at least.
Looks like I need to shave off some cycles on a few solutions. I'm fairly happy with Misfortune Modifier and its challenge version, at sub-100 and sub-300, respectively.
Looks like I need to shave off some cycles on a few solutions. I'm fairly happy with Misfortune Modifier and its challenge version, at sub-100 and sub-300, respectively.
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!
... well, once I get home from work tonight.
Edit:
Pssst, my challenge version is sub-200
It shouldn't be too much of a challenge. My solution is pretty straightforward.
I knew there was a lot of room for improvement with the challenge. I wasted a lot of cycles accounting for every case and breaking excess bonds. Pretty sure I know what to do, now that I've thought about it some more.
Edit: Sub-200 achieved. Starting too fast made me go slow.
I loaded up Sword of the Stars: The Pit last night just to have a quick play before getting stuck into the Spacechem puzzles. Then it was bedtime. Will have to jump into them tonight.
My numbers seem to be keeping pace with ecco and ContentContext's reports. I'm most interested in seeing how people are handle the Misfortune Modifier puzzles, both the regular and challenge versions. Those puzzles seem to be the ones that have the most potential in terms of ways to approach them, so I'm hoping my method stacks up well.
Looks like I need to shave off some cycles on a few solutions. I'm fairly happy with Misfortune Modifier and its challenge version, at sub-100 and sub-300, respectively.
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!
... well, once I get home from work tonight.
Edit:
Pssst, my challenge version is sub-200
It shouldn't be too much of a challenge. My solution is pretty straightforward.
There: Non-challenge version is now sub-95!
Can't believe I didn't think about this particular way to solve it before.
Silly me
Hey, (code obfuscation related) - is the order of the NaCl always the same for everyone, even though it was "randomly" distributed?
Like do you guys get 2xNaCl in the top left to start off with, followed by 2xNaCl in the bottom right?
In order to allow for equal leaderboard comparisons, everybody has the same input orders (i.e. generated from the same starting seed). I think this doesn't necessary apply for certain platforms the game has been ported to, but once you have seen what the input order is, you can consider it reliable for everyone.
In order to allow for equal leaderboard comparisons, everybody has the same input orders (i.e. generated from the same starting seed). I think this doesn't necessary apply for certain platforms the game has been ported to, but once you have seen what the input order is, you can consider it reliable for everyone.
Interesting...
By making certain assumptions about input order, I can actually shave a few cycles off here and there.
One of the Something Awful folks has reported benchmarks of sub-40 on Misfortune Modifier (standard) and sub-120 on Sun Simulator, in case anyone needed more goals to push for. I had to tweak my solution on the latter puzzle to meet their claim, but I'm feeling pretty good about my solutions right now.
EDIT: Another poster is claiming sub-150 on Fructose Factory and sub-120 on Misfortune Modifier (challenge)...
One of the Something Awful folks has reported benchmarks of sub-40 on Misfortune Modifier (standard) and sub-120 on Sun Simulator, in case anyone needed more goals to push for. I had to tweak my solution on the latter puzzle to meet their claim, but I'm feeling pretty good about my solutions right now.
EDIT: Another poster is claiming sub-150 on Fructose Factory and sub-120 on Misfortune Modifier (challenge)...
Oh yes, I'm able to meet the sub-150 (Fructose Factory) and sub-120 MM (challenge) claims with my existing solutions.
Edit:
I'm actually at around low 80s for my MM (standard) - not assuming input order.
If I do assume input order on MM, I have a feeling that I can get close to sub 40.
I have found that a number of levels list my "best" statistics as "0" under all three categories, which should be some sort of bug. Has anyone else experienced this?
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FandaHang a shining starupon the highest boughRegistered Userregular
Not with my own scores, but on my friends leaderboard @rRootagea has a 0 cycle score for Settling Into The Routine on the third planet.
It's fairly encouraging that the benchmark numbers haven't changed over the past few days. I might still be a few cycles off of the actual bests, but at least I've got a chance that I'm at optimality for at least one puzzle.
In case anyone needed something to do for the tournament before the first round ends (in about 22 hours from now), pseudodude over on Something Awful (who was known for some of the most unique and surprising solutions during the 2012 tournament) has claimed ~80 cycles on the challenge version of Misfortune Modifier. I can vaguely see how it's possible, but my brain hasn't quite figured out how he was able to make it all fit together. (Pseudodude is also trying to improve even further, that's a whole different story.)
I've all but given up on trying to get fewer cycles on that one. I'm still in the 150-200 range. Looking at the minimum number of inputs needed, it's clear what needs to be done. I just can't work out the spacing.
At first glance, these look a bit more challenging. I have to get up early, for a tournament, but I'm tempted to stay up late and bang out some solutions.
Very nicely done on the Misfortune Modifier challenge, ecco! I also wish I hadn't missed the input-fuse trick on Sun Simulator, I might have ranked better on that one. If anyone's interested in my solutions, I've got a link here.
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That's the beauty of it. Getting a solution is just the beginning. Those top solutions have likely been optimized, several times over.
Hopefully, I can do better this year. At least I'll be able to get in on this one from the start.
Hey @MrBlarney - thanks for the heads up on this (from ahava)
Time to see if we can SpaceChem like we did at PAX last year =P
Edit:
Also, obfuscation challenge?!
ContentContext, looks like you would have probably made top 16 last year if you had been in from the start... I mostly only got my rank going into the closed tournament last time due to the fact I submitted something for every challenge.
Origin: KafkaAU B-Net: Kafka#1778
Looking at the weird waldo paths I've got, I'm sure the number of symbols can definitely go down - I also have a feeling that the cycles can go down if I nut at it more, but I think for now, I'll move on.
Edit:
Hahaha, I didn't notice Misfortune Modifier's 33%/33%/33% random placement until now
Well played, sirs, well played.
Edit 2:
Alrighty
Misfortune Modifier (for speed) <120 cycles @ < 30 symbols
Edit 3:
Rounded numbers re: feedback
I'm not particularly fussed about those two solutions, since I have a feeling that they can definitely be improved on.
Working on Sun Simulator right now, but have to leave the house!
Once I get back, I'll finish the warm ups, and get on to the challenge!
So far, I'm very pleased with the quality of the puzzles in the first set. Considering the creativity of these puzzles, I'm afraid to think of what will come up in the rest of the open tournament.
I am the exact opposite.
I am perfectly happen to throw symbols at a problem just to make the solution go that extra cycle faster.
There we go - Sun Simulator - < 140 cycles @ < 40 symbols
edit: Well that idea only saved me 15 cycles. Guess it's progress at least.
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!
... well, once I get home from work tonight.
Edit:
Pssst, my challenge version is sub-200
It shouldn't be too much of a challenge. My solution is pretty straightforward.
I knew there was a lot of room for improvement with the challenge. I wasted a lot of cycles accounting for every case and breaking excess bonds. Pretty sure I know what to do, now that I've thought about it some more.
Edit: Sub-200 achieved. Starting too fast made me go slow.
Origin: KafkaAU B-Net: Kafka#1778
There: Non-challenge version is now sub-95!
Can't believe I didn't think about this particular way to solve it before.
Silly me
Hey, (code obfuscation related) - is the order of the NaCl always the same for everyone, even though it was "randomly" distributed?
Like do you guys get 2xNaCl in the top left to start off with, followed by 2xNaCl in the bottom right?
Interesting...
By making certain assumptions about input order, I can actually shave a few cycles off here and there.
EDIT: Another poster is claiming sub-150 on Fructose Factory and sub-120 on Misfortune Modifier (challenge)...
Oh yes, I'm able to meet the sub-150 (Fructose Factory) and sub-120 MM (challenge) claims with my existing solutions.
Edit:
I'm actually at around low 80s for my MM (standard) - not assuming input order.
If I do assume input order on MM, I have a feeling that I can get close to sub 40.
I am sitting here right now with the epic SpaceChem background music blaring, optimising.
This is serious fun business. =P
Edit:
AHA!
Took me several hours, but I agree with MrB that there exists a sub-40 solution for MM (non-challenge)
Edit:
There goes Fructose Factory.
I think I see how to do it - but I'm spending my time sorting out car problems today. Suspected starter motor fault. *sigh*
It's GG for me =P
Game on!
Edit: That first one was cute.
Round 1 Results
Round 1 video
Overall Standings - Upper Tier
Pseudodude 6
ecco2 5
Serbaldrig 4
Waypoint 3
LittleBigDej 3
CannibalK9 3
MrBlarney 3
GuavaMoment 3
ContentContext 2
csuzw 2
Everyone Else 2
Overall Standings - Lower Tier
Pseudodude 12
CannibalK9 11
DariusRaider 11
GuavaMoment 10
Serbaldrig 10
Leylite 9
Carlbunk 9
TheKnife 9
gggol 8
MrBlarney 8
cearn 7
Roonespism 7
ContentContext 7
ecco2 7
LittleBigDej 7
csuzw 6
Everyone Else 6,4, or 2
Anyone else from PA competing?
As it turns out, my Fructose Factory and Sun Simulator solutions were... lacking. I'll just leave them out, but here's my MM solutions:
MM non-challenge - "What a Mess"
MM challenge - "Swizzle Stick"