Originally posted by LaffyTaffyKidd@May 29 2007, 02:16 AM
I'm still a little confused... So are there any specific moves that you have to perform?? because the thing I'm confused about is... How do you know where each piece goes or how do you remember exactly where each piece is??
Starting from the beginning... what do you have to look for? after that, what do you have to look for?
Mostly ... every guide tells me all this stuff, but I never understand it.. sorry if I'm dumb or something, but I just don't get this...
I will try to answer this as one beginner to another ^_^;
Let me try to tackle your questions one at a time (I will simplify/ignore some aspects for sake of clarity)
So are there any specific moves that you have to perform??
Yes. There's a few algorithms you will need for orienting and permuting pieces. I think a very simple solution needs 4 algorithms (one for edge orientation, one for corner orientation, one for edge permutation, one for corner permutation) and repetition of those algorithms would yield correct corner/edge orientations and correct corner/edge permutations (in other words you'd get a solved cube)
How do you know where each piece goes or how do you remember exactly where each piece is??
There are many methods to bld cubing; I will share my experiences with macky's 3cycle method:
First thing -- you don't remember where each piece is. You remember where they go instead. The way to do that is to look at the colors of the piece (If a piece is in the right place, you ignore it. I mean it's in the right place after all)
Say you're holding the cube such that blue is on top and green is in front (what I use). The UF edge piece should be green/blue for a fixed rubik's cube. But say it's red/yellow. That means that piece belongs somewhere else (more specifically, between the red and yellow sides). So you look there (between the red/yellow sides). Say you find a green/orange edge piece in that place. That has to go between the green and orange faces. So you look where it would go. Say between the green and orange faces you find a blue/green piece. That has to go to the initial position. In other words, those 3 pieces have to be cycled (first one moves to 2nd's place, 2nd piece moves to 3rd's place, 3rd moves to first's place). That can be done with an appropriate algorithm. Once you do this, the 3 pieces will be in their correct positions, and you're that much closer to getting a solved cube.
The same principle applies to corner permutation as well.
You remember this sequence any way you like. You could chant in your head "green/blue goes to red/yellow goes to green/orange goes to green/blue" but I don't think that's very effective. You may choose to replace the pieces with numbers, so then you can remember 3 numbers instead. Or shapes/people/whatever. This is the most fun part of bld cubing for me, making my own memory system^_^
What do you have to look for?
Two things: orientation and permutation (of corners and edges). You have to see firstly which pieces need to be twisted to their correct states. Secondly you will need to see where those pieces have to move (see my answer above)
