Now that we have no excuse not to finish our apps how about some sort of collective TestFlight arrangement for beta testing?
There is always the Codea beta testers (which, sadly, I’ve never been able to be a part of). I’d be happy to be a part of one if you make one.
sorry for some reason it does not work
here goes, if you want to betatest my new puzzler here is the testflight link (you need to connect to it in Safari on the ipad)
http://testflightapp.com/join/09dcd3922c156eb31c532d8288385e88-NTM5OTM/
I’ve never used testflight, I sent a request. How easy is it to setup?
It is rather straightforward. All the info is on the webpage here:
http://help.testflightapp.com/customer/portal/articles/494413-how-to-create-an-ipa-xcode-4-3-
I hope I now added you to the build. You should be able to follow the instructions in the email.
Crashes right after made with codea.
I think I gave you access to a bad copy. give me a sec
:)) testflight is down
Back up! looks like you have no build up.
Should be on now
Not completely sure if it worked … but I clicked on the link and followed the instructions.
testflight tells me it worked, did it?
Yes, it did.
First impression: “Help” didn’t tell me what the aim of the game was, just how to move triangles. So it wasn’t until I actually played it that I realised what the point was.
yep you are right, I am in the process of changing that. I am under the impression it is too hard … it is meant to be a general “slide puzzle” kinda permutation game, I would add others in the next versions.
I’d agree with the “too hard”. I mean, I’m a mathematician and I haven’t yet solved one. I suspect that there is a general strategy (based on 5-cycles?) similar to the 3-cycle strategy for rectangular grids. However, starting with a 24-tile grid and an arbitrary (even) permutation doesn’t make it easy to figure that out.
As a data point, I have a rectangular slide puzzle game and my kids don’t use a strategy for solving that even with a 2x3 grid.
I like the hypnotic shader, but maybe you could allow for pictures on the pieces for those still getting used to numbers (but maybe you’re not aiming that low down the age range). You could also make the pieces rotate into place instead of just flipping from one state to the other.
Thanks, these are my thoughts exactly. I am planning to modify the help to give many hints. There is in fact a 3 cycle strategy here as well, it is just not so obvious. I am a bit worried about putting pictures as the puzzle is so hard to start with. Thanks for the idea with the rotation, I might implement it.
Here is the first take on the rotation
Okay, I found the 3-cycle. It’s the commutator of two 5-cycles that overlap. Having found that, I solved one of the problems. To find it, I used the help version so that I could easily keep track of which numbers I was moving.
The title ‘Hex slider’ is hidden on the main page behind the “High Scores” symbol. Perhaps move it so that it can be seen?
The graphics feel very slick, by the way. I like that.
updated the build, the help now includes a solved puzzle. I will still polish it a bit in the next few days.
Any other comments anybody?