by
jure jerkovic
i'm not familiar with this yahoo environment and therfore my .log can
be found within files map.
--- End forwarded message ---
I solved it by hand using the windows version, and a lot of help from
Roice
Nelson's solution guide. I spent a few hours here and there working
on it
from 6/10/2003 to 6/21/2003. Maybe I'll take a crack at 5x5x5x5 next
(I
prefer the odd sizes), but it's just so huge... Probably I'll never
do it.
I noticed there isn't a list for 2x2x2x2, maybe I could make #1 for
that?!
Hmmmmm, I assume it's just considered too "easy" for a list. :-)
Allow me to make one little plug for Kung Fu Chess at
http://www.shizmoo.com. It's chess without turns, you can move all
your
pieces at once, but once a piece moves it has to "recharge" before it
can
move again. Some chess strategies still apply, but there are new and
interesting tactics possible in this version. If you decide to get
on there
look for me, yoyoma.
Finally, my homepage (with very little content) is
http://www.freewebs.com/aolsen.
- Andy
_________________________________________________________________
The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE*
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--- End forwarded message ---
congratulations and welcome.
> [...] I noticed there isn't a list for 2x2x2x2, maybe I could make
#1 for
> that?!
> Hmmmmm, I assume it's just considered too "easy" for a list. :-)
don did implement the 2^4 at one point. it was a bit of an oddball
because the UI
had to work differently from the other puzzles. the way it worked was
that it
depended upon which 2D face of the sticker you clicked on, and
twisted in that
plane. i don't remember what became of that version though.
another interesting puzzle was suggested on the slashdot discussions
on the 4D
cube recently. that is, the 3^2. with little thought it's obvious how
it should
work. here's my idea. if it looks crappy you'll need to view with a
fixed width
font:
___________________
|\__R__|__R__|__R__ /|
| | | | | |
|G| 1 | 2 | 3 |B|
|_|____|_____|_____|_|
| | | | | |
|G| 4 | 5 | 6 |B|
|_|____|_____|_____|_|
| | | | | |
|G| 7 | 8 | 9 |B|
| |____|_____|_____| |
|/__Y__|__Y__|__Y___\|
paint the 4 outside edges a different color.
note that the corner buttons (1, 3, 7, 9)
have 2 colors, the edge middle buttons (2, 4, 6, 8)
have 1 color, and the middle button (5) has none and is not really
part of the
puzzle.
there are 4 possible ways to twist this puzzle:
swap buttons 1 and 3,
swap buttons 1 and 7,
swap buttons 3 and 9,
swap buttons 7 and 9.
i'm finding it very difficult to make myself do any programming right
now but i'm
sure this should be rather simple. it'd be fun to animate the
twisting by
scrunching the row or column into a line and then back out into the
twisted
position. that would make it appear as if the selected row or column
was rotating
through the 3D dimension. (woo, spooky!) all that's needed is to
scale down to 0
and then back with the stickers reversed. i don't know flash, but
that might
provide an even easier platform for this than java.
one fun thing that falls out of it is that we wouldn't need an
exploded view
since we can easily visualize the entire puzzle in it's natural
configuration.
it'd also be a natural element to add to abbot's "flatland" as it's
easy to
imagine how this puzzle would warp the mind of a flatlander
attempting to solve
it.
i'm not sure how you'd build a physical version but it should be
quite possible
and might even be a fun introductory puzzle for children.
-melinda
--- End forwarded message ---
> [...] don did implement the 2^4 at one point. it was a bit of an
oddball because the
> UI
> > had to work differently from the other puzzles. the way it worked
was that it
> > depended upon which 2D face of the sticker you clicked on, and
twisted in that
> > plane. i don't remember what became of that version though.
>
> It's an option in the Linux version (and the java version).
> Isn't it in the Windows version?
i don't think so. i tried to get as much working in the time i had
(~2 weeks), and
multiple puzzles just gave me problems i wasn't able to debug.
> > another interesting puzzle was suggested on the slashdot
discussions on the 4D
> > cube recently. that is, the 3^2. [...]
> > there are 4 possible ways to twist this puzzle:
> > swap buttons 1 and 3,
> > swap buttons 1 and 7,
> > swap buttons 3 and 9,
> > swap buttons 7 and 9.
> [...]
> This is rubik's cube with each of the 9 columns of 3 glued
together, right?
it is? i guess so but i think you'd have to limit twists to 180
degrees. perhaps that's
what it amounts to as the glued columns would lock out some other
legal moves until you
finished or backed off the 90 degree twist. even then you'd have to
introduce some
mysterious additional colors from the other 3D faces.
still, that's a rather interesting idea. so does the same logic apply
which would turn
the 4D cube into the standard 3D? i think we long ago discussed
whether it might be
possible to put a fully scrambled cube into a configuration that
could then be solved
as a standard 3D cube. or was that a possible strategy for solving
the 4^3 and 5^3?
-melinda
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