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Author
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Topic: SpaceChem (Read 9525 times)
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Quinton
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3332
is saving up his raid points for a fancy board title
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I just grabbed the free demo. This is a brilliant puzzle game where the solutions are two-threaded visual programs. I'm enjoying the hell out of the demo and they'll be getting my $20 for the full game. http://www.spacechemthegame.com/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVDYxYpneagThe basic mechanic is to build reactors which take molecules from input ports, modify them, and send them into output ports. This is accomplished with two manipulators (waldos) which follow tracks composed of instruction nodes for movement, manipulation of the molecules (rotation, create bond, break bond, pick up, drop, etc), manipulation of the input/output ports, synchronization between the two threads of execution, etc. EDIT: (Spoilers) Screenshots and movie of a five reactor setup for one of the challenge levels (Going Green): http://frotz.net/misc/goinggreen/ 
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« Last Edit: January 16, 2011, 11:48:24 PM by Quinton »
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Quinton
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3332
is saving up his raid points for a fancy board title
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Hints 'n Tips (Things I learned the hard way)
- Molecules may be dropped *anywhere* in the output port's 4x4 region, they don't need to match the exact position shown to the right - Molecules may be in any configuration when dropped in the output port, so long as they are equivalent (H-O-H may be in a straight line or in a L, either is fine, etc) - The Bond/Unbond commands trigger all bonding/unbonding pads in the level at once, no matter where the command nodes are relative to the pads.
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bhodi
Moderator
Posts: 6817
No lie.
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Tricky and fun. I'm at Hydrogen Peroxide. It's starting to get tough. I am particularly proud of my Acetylene:
Since it was the first that I really had to stop and think about. It's much more a 'programming' style puzzle game than actual chemistry.
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« Last Edit: January 16, 2011, 01:24:23 PM by bhodi »
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Quinton
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3332
is saving up his raid points for a fancy board title
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Tricky and fun. I'm at Hydrogen Peroxide. It's starting to get tough. I am particularly proud of my Acetylene: ... Since it was the first that I really had to stop and think about. It's much more a 'programming' style puzzle game than actual chemistry.
The later puzzles on planet 3 and 4 are rough. And yeah, it's really a chemistry-themed programming/robotics/simulation puzzle game. Which is, of course, fine by me. EDIT: Currently chewing on the one where you have H2O and Kr generators, and need to generate Y, Zr, and Nb. Having only one fuser or detector in a factory makes things complex. EDIT2: That one took like 3 hours total, I think. Yow! Went through a few redesigns and ended up with a nice 3 reactor solution. I think one reason I end up with slower (larger cycle count) solutions that some I've seen is I really dislike the whole "make really long pipes to compensate for poor flow control" technique that I've seen. Which leads to more effort around synchronization which slows me down.
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« Last Edit: January 16, 2011, 10:07:36 PM by Quinton »
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Ingmar
Terracotta Army
Posts: 19280
Auto Assault Affectionado
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When you guys finish with this I have some redstone circuits that need programming in Minecraft. 
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The Transcendent One: AH... THE ROGUE CONSTRUCT. Nordom: Sense of closure: imminent.
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Samwise
Moderator
Posts: 19324
sentient yeast infection
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This is what crafting in a sci-fi MMO should look like.
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Tairnyn
Terracotta Army
Posts: 431
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This game has devoured my entire day and will no doubt plague my dreams.
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bhodi
Moderator
Posts: 6817
No lie.
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Did you see this? http://eterna.cmu.edu/htmls/welcome.html?AAAAYou make RNA and you get points based on the complexity of the molecule and various restraints(limited strong-bonded pairs, etc.) and when you get 10 000, you can enter into "the lab". In the lab, you can submit rna designs, and each week, some of the designs submitted are actually synthesised in a lab. Weird. Edit: Yay, finished the demo!
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« Last Edit: January 17, 2011, 09:10:55 PM by bhodi »
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Muffled
Terracotta Army
Posts: 257
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What are they trying to accomplish in their crowdsourced RNA synthesizing lab?
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Trippy
Administrator
Posts: 23657
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They are trying to create the The Andromeda Strain?
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Trippy
Administrator
Posts: 23657
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Anybody know the trick to using less than 10 symbols on Oxygen (2nd planet, first selection "Double Bonds")?
Edit: also, can you adjust the starting position of the incoming atom/molecule?
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« Last Edit: January 18, 2011, 01:01:43 AM by Trippy »
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Quinton
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3332
is saving up his raid points for a fancy board title
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The best I've managed so far is 11, didn't think of doing it the way you suggested:
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« Last Edit: January 18, 2011, 09:49:53 AM by Quinton »
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Tarami
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1980
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With some fiddling I got it down to 7 symbols, 122 cycles:  If you move the drop one step to the left and add a rotation you will get a symbol more but only 112 cycles.
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- I'm giving you this one for free. - Nothing's free in the waterworld.
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Quinton
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3332
is saving up his raid points for a fancy board title
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Wow.
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Trippy
Administrator
Posts: 23657
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A ha! The "perma-bonder" with Blue was the trick I was missing. Thanks!
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Ghambit
Terracotta Army
Posts: 5576
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« Last Edit: January 19, 2011, 08:51:14 PM by Ghambit »
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"See, the beauty of webgames is that I can play them on my phone while I'm plowing your mom." -Samwise
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Ghambit
Terracotta Army
Posts: 5576
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So at the end of the demo the game throws a "Tower Defense" style situation at you wherein you install switches in your reactors that are trippable outside the system. Twas at this point I ponied up the $20. Helluva game, or maybe my mind is just broken... or both.
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"See, the beauty of webgames is that I can play them on my phone while I'm plowing your mom." -Samwise
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Quinton
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3332
is saving up his raid points for a fancy board title
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There are further goodies thrown in in later levels including sensors that can change flow control based on what atom is detected, flip-flop gates, etc.
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Ghambit
Terracotta Army
Posts: 5576
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Space OxidesUses the sensor to switch to a single or double process of oxygen depending on the lower element. Blessed be the recycler: http://www.youtube.com/watch?hd=1&v=OgYImmWysIgThis is the situation where elements can back up in the system, so you have to switch to a recycler whilst the system waits for the appropriate assembly element, in this case Nitrogen. So it spits Oxygen into the trash loop until an N shows up, wherein it hits the combinative loop to the freighter. This setup is near the best way to do this problem. Man, this game is way worth $20 imo. I love the way it works you slowly into how each element works and the best ways to employ them, then challenges you hardcore with all the knowledge you've gained.
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"See, the beauty of webgames is that I can play them on my phone while I'm plowing your mom." -Samwise
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Logain
Terracotta Army
Posts: 249
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For that last one I just made the pipe of the one that comes out 75% of the time 4 times longer than the pipe of the other. Took a while to get it balanced but it worked out great.
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Quinton
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3332
is saving up his raid points for a fancy board title
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I'm totally picky about getting the flow rates reasonably balanced without resorting to filling the landscape up with pipes.
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Ghambit
Terracotta Army
Posts: 5576
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For that last one I just made the pipe of the one that comes out 75% of the time 4 times longer than the pipe of the other. Took a while to get it balanced but it worked out great.
It's not a good habit to get into though. I'd thought about using lots of piping to counteract flowrates, but fought against that urge simply because later in the game you just cant do it due to lack of room. Oh btw:
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"See, the beauty of webgames is that I can play them on my phone while I'm plowing your mom." -Samwise
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Ghambit
Terracotta Army
Posts: 5576
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I'm necro-bumping this because it's priced back down to $10 and is available on steam. (perhaps move to steam forum?) http://store.steampowered.com/app/92800/Also, the game has been pretty heavily updated since release. There's now a "ResearchNet" where you can create and share puzzles; currently there's a contest to see who can make the most complex molecular computer. There's also a fresh DLC that adds "quantum junctions" and a new campaign. My brain bleeds thinking of how that'll play out. Also, schools are now apparently grabbing up free copies to teach basic programming, problem solving, and chemistry. $10? Easy choice.
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"See, the beauty of webgames is that I can play them on my phone while I'm plowing your mom." -Samwise
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Prospero
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1473
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There's a really well done iPad version as well. It's definitely a great puzzle game.
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bhodi
Moderator
Posts: 6817
No lie.
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So I'm bumping this again because I started playing for the christmas achievement and can't stop. But I see Quinton is the only one here on my rankings. I am disappoint.
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Quinton
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3332
is saving up his raid points for a fancy board title
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There's a Christmas achievement?! To the reactor controls!
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Trippy
Administrator
Posts: 23657
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There was -- it was for completing the 2nd planet. Not sure if it's still being awarded since it was tied to the Christmas gifts/pile.
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bhodi
Moderator
Posts: 6817
No lie.
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Did you beat it? You're the only one farther than I am, but I'm only on the 5th planet. I hear the last planet is haaaarrdddd.
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