[Member Intro] Hello and Help!

Pawel

Pawel

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Jun 17, 2020
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61
Hi, I am an occasional mobile game developer. (http://spheroku.com/). I found this forum because I am looking for people good at solving Rubik's cube. I am debating if I should spend time to fully develop a concept and release it as a mobile game for Android and Apple mobile devices.

I created a rough prototype for the web using Unity3d and webGL. Unfortunately at this point, it does not recognize touches so it works only with a computer and a mouse or laptop. Here is a link to the prototype. As I said because it is Unity authored webGL it is rough... It takes a while to load (turns black for some time before loads, Unity includes tons of garbage in their webGL code). There are two levels, the first one is pretty easy, the second level I was not able to solve yet. I am not sure if this is because I am too dumb, or it is not solvable. I figured Rubik's cube masters should be able to find a solution if there is one. The game's goal is to put all the hexagon's magenta tiles on one side of the sphere, and the green tiles on the other side with white tiles in-between. That's Level one. Level 2 adds light green and light pink tiles. Light pink has to border magenta and light green has to border dark green. The picture below shows how it should look when Level2 is solved. Each rotator/pentagon rotates the adjacent hexagons counter-clockwise -- 1 position with each click. The orientation is done with a mouse movement either over the hexagons or outside of the sphere.

____________



_________________
Game web prototype link
_____________



level2.jpg
 
Last edited:
It is virgin territory, how often do we have a chance to experience it? :)

This puzzle is similar in some ways, different in others...

Where Rubik's cube solving skills are helpful is the ability to think in three dimensions while remembering step sequences... This ball has only 20 hexagons that need to be manipulated -- This may be why Level 1 is easier then Rubik's cube, and Level 2 possibly is more difficult.

It is a puzzle... Can it be solved?
 
Pawel said:
It is virgin territory, how often do we have a chance to experience it? :)

This puzzle is similar in some ways, different in others...

Where Rubik's cube solving skills are helpful is the ability to think in three dimensions while remembering step sequences... This ball has only 20 hexagons that need to be manipulated -- This may be why Level 1 is easier then Rubik's cube, and Level 2 possibly is more difficult.

It is a puzzle... Can it be solved?
Click to expand...

How does the computer generate a state?
 
I figured it out! The way I did it was that I first made the magenta side, then I filled in the light pink. I knew logically that after I did the light green the dark green would be done. So I did the light green and completed it. I found myself using R U R' style inserts to solve the light green, so I would say cubing helped, at least somewhat.


By the way, I would love to see this as a mobile app. The two things I don't like about it are the color choice and the way you turn the puzzle.
To deal with the first issue, I think you should use "softer" colors that don't hurt the eyes. For the second issue, I found it annoying having to turn the sides 4 times to do one move. A cool mobile feature would be the ability to swipe left and right to turn the sides clockwise and counterclockwise.



As for other suggestions/features, obviously for a full-fledge mobile app there would need to be more levels. I honestly would make a fair amount of the levels easier than level one. This could most likely be done by using a smaller size puzzle with less pieces. I also think there should still be a fair amount of levels harder than level 2, which could be done by using a bigger puzzle with more pieces. I would also love a timer mode where you try to complete it as fast as possible.

Overall, this prototype has huge potential and I can't wait to see where you go with it. Best of luck! :)
 
I also just finished it, using the same strategy as Nmile. I obviously couldn't solve it like a puzzle I'm used to due to the shape, but I was still able to use my knowledge of things like hide, move, bring back up; to solve one dark color, one light color, the other light color. It's actually pretty fun :)

I think that having the ability to move a section in both directions, that way you don't need to do 4 moves clockwise to do one counterclockwise turn
 
Pawel said:
Hi, I am an occasional mobile game developer. (http://spheroku.com/). I found this forum because I am looking for people good at solving Rubik's cube. I am debating if I should spend time to fully develop a concept and release it as a mobile game for Android and Apple mobile devices.

I created a rough prototype for the web using Unity3d and webGL. Unfortunately at this point, it does not recognize touches so it works only with a computer and a mouse or laptop. Here is a link to the prototype. As I said because it is Unity authored webGL it is rough... It takes a while to load (turns black for some time before loads, Unity includes tons of garbage in their webGL code). There are two levels, the first one is pretty easy, the second level I was not able to solve yet. I am not sure if this is because I am too dumb, or it is not solvable. I figured Rubik's cube masters should be able to find a solution if there is one. The game's goal is to put all the hexagon's magenta tiles on one side of the sphere, and the green tiles on the other side with white tiles in-between. That's Level one. Level 2 adds light green and light pink tiles. Light pink has to border magenta and light green has to border dark green. The picture below shows how it should look when Level2 is solved. Each rotator/pentagon rotates the adjacent hexagons counter-clockwise -- 1 position with each click. The orientation is done with a mouse movement either over the hexagons or outside of the sphere.

____________



_________________
Game web prototype link
_____________



View attachment 12595
Click to expand...
I think it was a pretty cool puzzle to solve! I solved it by basically doing sledgehammers to insert pieces and to make 2x1 blocks to pair with 3x1 blocks. Very cool puzzle and I would buy one if it came in physical form or download the app when it comes out!
 
Sub1Hour said:
I think it was a pretty cool puzzle to solve! I solved it by basically doing sledgehammers to insert pieces and to make 2x1 blocks to pair with 3x1 blocks. Very cool puzzle and I would buy one if it came in physical form or download the app when it comes out!
Click to expand...

I don't know much about puzzle design or even if this would work in physical form, but if it did I would love to have one. I timed a solve, 1:22.72 :)
 
ProStar said:
I don't know much about puzzle design or even if this would work in physical form, but if it did I would love to have one. I timed a solve, 1:22.72 :)
Click to expand...
It seems like a more simple version of the Tuttminx, but I'm not 100% sure since I have only seen pictures of a Tuttminx and not an actual real one.
 
ProStar said:
How does the computer generate a state?
Click to expand...

At this point, I did not program any states. I only programmed rotation in one direction. This prototype is "dumb" it does not know if the game is solved or not. I used it as a starting point to see if the gameplay has potential. Initially, I only did level one (this was 3 days ago), but it was too easy to solve. so went back to complicate things with Level 2 and I was surprised I could not crack it ( I only tried for a few minutes).

Obviously, if I fully develop it, I will program it fully as well -- gesture movement in both directions, timers, move counters, leaderboards... Heck if people play it I will even make a Skillz version with tournaments -- Real Money tournaments or just for fun... From the Developer's perspective, the essential question is if it has the potential to bring people to the game without spending a fortune on advertising... For example, Skillz requires 100 active daily users to turn on real money contests.

It is even possible I will tinker with it mechanically and develop a mechanical prototype using 3d printer... and manufacture it for sale. (I am painting a blue sky here :) hehe)
Sub1Hour said:
I think it was a pretty cool puzzle to solve! I solved it by basically doing sledgehammers to insert pieces and to make 2x1 blocks to pair with 3x1 blocks. Very cool puzzle and I would buy one if it came in physical form or download the app when it comes out!
Click to expand...

Congratulations! You are the first-ever! So it is solvable! How long do you think it took?
 
Last edited:
Pawel said:
Congratulations! You are the first-ever! So it is solvable! How long do you think it took?
Click to expand...
No more than 1 minute after I figured out how it turns and what the solved state was. Its actually pretty easy and it would be a great puzzle to teach cubers how to use stuff like sledgehammers. Ill time another solve and tell you what the time was.
 
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