Message #604

From: Melinda Green <melinda@superliminal.com>
Subject: Re: Magic 120 Cell Solve
Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:09:00 -0800

One tiny correction: I think I invented the piece finding design though
it was Roice who implemented it.

I’m a little torn about supporting larger cubes in MC4D but if people
want it, I see no reason not to support it. That is assuming the
original memory explosion that happened when I initially tried that
doesn’t present a problem. Perhaps more importantly, I don’t want to
keep records related to larger cubes, so if people are OK with that,
I’ll see what I can do the next time I work on it. That might not be for
a while as I tend to work on it between contracts/jobs, and right now
I’m happily employed working on Second Life. I would like to take a
break from that soon but things are going well there so I have no idea
when that will likely be. I definitely agree that a cubie-finder would
be extremely helpful when working on those big boys!

So you solved the 120 cell from the inside-out? Regardless, does the
program support a playback mode? In MC4D you can adjust the speed while
doing a "cheat" solve to play the solution backwards. I should really
allow for the equivalent "redo" playback to play it forward. Also, a
screensaver mode that plays forward in an endless loop would be fun too.
The loop should pause in the pristine state and do a bunch of pure
rotations before starting off again. If at all possible, I encourage you
to create a time-lapse video of your solution and post it on Youtube.
OTOH, I just did a back-of-the-envelop calculation which suggests that
even at movie speeds and one frame per twist, it could still take over
20 minutes to play! Either you’d need a higher frame rate or have to
skip several moves per frame to squeeze it into a reasonable time. Too
bad Roice’s log format doesn’t mark macro begins and ends, otherwise a
video or playback mode could skip over the macro details. Oh well, too
many fun things to do!

-melinda

ltd.dv8r@gmail.com wrote:
> Hello All,
>
> Thank you for the congratulations! To answer your question Melinda,
> yes it was a lot of fun and I might do it again sometime if I think of
> a faster method! ;)
>
> As for your question Roice, the way I solved this thing is entirly
> similar to how I solve the 4D cubes. It seemed like a good starting
> point sice I solve a 3D Megaminx similarly to how I solve a 3D Rubik’s
> cube.
>
> Now that this project is done (it only took me about a week btw :) ),
> I would really like to go back to the 4D cubes but I admit, using the
> special features that Roice included in the program
> makes the puzzle experience much more enjoyable, not to mention
> faster. Could we please have these kinds of features in the 4D
> cubes??? Please?? I think everyone would love the piece finder that
> Roice invented and the piece highlighting would be very useful for the
> larger cubes.
>
> On another note, I know I’m not the only one that has got their hands
> on the new V-cubes. I think that we know we can solve the 3D 6x6 and
> 7x7 it would be cool to give the 4D versions a shot. Maybe after those
> I’ll tackle the 5D versions. :D