A little quiz ;-)

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Arno
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Post by Arno »

As I really have no idea, I cheated a little by looking at the FAQ. Here's what I found:
Amoeba:
BD1: The slow growing timer is start immediately (even before the start signal).
BD2: The timer starts with the first possibility of growing.
Regardless if this is the correct answer, I was wondering: Is this also related to the phenomenon that when an amoeba is enclosed at the start of a cave, it is silent, but when you free it, it starts making noise? This is what you see very often in PLCK games.

But is it impossible in BD1? In other words, what happens if you do this in a BD1 cave? The same, or does it convert to diamonds immediately?
(If anyone knows a BD1 game having this, then it is easy to try of course, but I don't remember one... :oops: )
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LogicDeLuxe
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Post by LogicDeLuxe »

Arno wrote:As I really have no idea, I cheated a little by looking at the FAQ.
Actually, I was amazed that it took so long, before someone did some research at all.
Regardless if this is the correct answer, I was wondering: Is this also related to the phenomenon that when an amoeba is enclosed at the start of a cave, it is silent, but when you free it, it starts making noise? This is what you see very often in PLCK games.
That's it. The BD2 engine in fact supports such a dormant amoeba waiting to be freed. It's your turn.
But is it impossible in BD1? In other words, what happens if you do this in a BD1 cave? The same, or does it convert to diamonds immediately?
As I said, the feature basically was there, but it is buggy. Letting the different timer behavior alone, the amoeba usually stays dormant as in later engines, but sometimes it does in fact converts to diamonds for no apparent reason.
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Arno
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Post by Arno »

LogicDeLuxe wrote:As I said, the feature basically was there, but it is buggy. Letting the different timer behavior alone, the amoeba usually stays dormant as in later engines, but sometimes it does in fact converts to diamonds for no apparent reason.
Interesting behaviour; this may be a reason why it is apparently not used very much in BD1 games (cave would be unfair when completely dependent on a seemingly unpredictable event).
LogicDeLuxe wrote:It's your turn.
I've to think about a nice one. ;) I come back to it later...
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Arno
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Post by Arno »

A race between a firefly and a butterfly.

Image
(built in the CKit)

Who wins? The one who gives the best explanation has next turn.

BTW - this topic reminds me of a series of BD puzzles that I created a long time ago for a C64 magazine. Maybe it's a good idea to place these puzzles here at the forum as well.
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LogicDeLuxe
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Post by LogicDeLuxe »

How about collecting these questions for a quiz 3 on your homepage? Maybe if we have another 18?
Arno wrote:BTW - this topic reminds me of a series of BD puzzles that I created a long time ago for a C64 magazine. Maybe it's a good idea to place these puzzles here at the forum as well.
Why not?
I also liked the idea of those BD Sudokus.
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Arno
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Post by Arno »

LogicDeLuxe wrote:How about collecting these questions for a quiz 3 on your homepage? Maybe if we have another 18?
Nice idea :D but may be even more frustrating for the average fan (eventhough multiple guess)... the first two quizes were already... :lol:

Before I forget: it is of course easy to try this out in the C-Kit, but to find the answer by reasoning is more fun, I think! :) The same holds for those magazine puzzles.
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RTADash
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Post by RTADash »

The butterfly will win.
In the CKit, both bugs start in the same direction and are initially even with other, but, the number of turns in each direction (Right vs. Left) determines the winner. By analyzing each turn and the way the bug will be facing at the turn, I came up with a total of 8 left turns and 10 right turns.
Each left turn slows the butterfly down, and each right turn slows the firefly down.
Since there are more right turns than left, the firefly gets further behind and the butterfly is victorious. :)
(But it is veeerrrrryyy close)
Boulders are round.
Fireflies are square.
I need to find
a'way out of here.
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Arno
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Post by Arno »

RTADash wrote:I came up with a total of 8 left turns and 10 right turns.
Each left turn slows the butterfly down, and each right turn slows the firefly down.
That turns out te be correct! It's your turn, Rory :)

Note that when we reverse the path, the firefly will of course win the race. Also not surprisingly, when we let them walk back and forth, both flies will reach the starting point simultaneously.
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RTADash
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Post by RTADash »

Arno wrote:That turns out to be correct! It's your turn, Rory :)
I'll think of something during my boring English class. :wink:
Boulders are round.
Fireflies are square.
I need to find
a'way out of here.
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RTADash
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Post by RTADash »

Ok, It's a riddle: ;)
That was a little bit too inventive, so I'm changing to a more technical question:
[monotone] Look at the picture of the cave. Without seeing any of the settings/parameters, tell me something that's wrong with it. [/monotone]
Image
Last edited by RTADash on Sat Sep 27, 2008 3:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
Boulders are round.
Fireflies are square.
I need to find
a'way out of here.
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Dustin
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Post by Dustin »

I wonder whether the element you search talks to Rockford or to another element?
Boulder Dash X Rock, Paper, Scissors:
ROCKFORD collects DIAMOND, digs DIRT
DIAMOND outvalues DIRT & BOULDER
DIRT carries BOULDER, blocks FIREFLY
BOULDER kills FIREFLY & ROCKFORD
FIREFLY kills ROCKFORD, guards DIAMOND
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RTADash
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Post by RTADash »

It was talking to Rockford.

I changed the question - see my previous post.
Boulders are round.
Fireflies are square.
I need to find
a'way out of here.
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LogicDeLuxe
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Post by LogicDeLuxe »

RTADash wrote:[monotone] Look at the picture of the cave. Without seeing any of the settings/parameters, tell me something that's wrong with it. [/monotone]
The light green brick wall color?
You didn't tell for what system the cave is. The Atari version and pretty much any port or clone other than the C64 version using this graphics, could do this, though.
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RTADash
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Post by RTADash »

LogicDeLuxe wrote:The light green brick wall color?
Absolutely. :)

I tend to overlook the variables allowed with other systems and clones, since I'm such a traditionalist. Either way, though, it's your turn now. :wink:
Boulders are round.
Fireflies are square.
I need to find
a'way out of here.
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Dustin
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Post by Dustin »

@RTA Dash: Will you tell us your intended solution of the riddle? *curious look*
Boulder Dash X Rock, Paper, Scissors:
ROCKFORD collects DIAMOND, digs DIRT
DIAMOND outvalues DIRT & BOULDER
DIRT carries BOULDER, blocks FIREFLY
BOULDER kills FIREFLY & ROCKFORD
FIREFLY kills ROCKFORD, guards DIAMOND
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