Rules partly adapted from TipsterTrickster's earlier FMC comp. If you take issue with any of the rules, please bring up said issues before this forum competition commences proper (roughly tomorrow).
Warning: This is a very time-consuming event. You should not even think of trying unless you have prior experience with FMC and with megaminx.
tl;dr: Best of 3, time limit 2.5 hours (Twizzle) or 3 hours (physical puzzles), submissions close at the end of the year.
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The scrambles used are Pochmann-style random-move scrambles (R++ D++ etc.), but with these two changes:
(i) The scramble will be in initial scramble orientation (i.e. white-top green-front on the standard colour scheme).
(ii) The scramble sequence will consist of 10 rows of 10 moves each, rather than 7 rows of 10 moves each.
The rationales for these deviations from WCA scrambles are:
(i) Puzzle reorientation is a waste of time, a significant source of human error, and does not meaningfully add to the event. Consider e.g. standard FMC, where scramble sequences never include wide moves or rotations. This orientation filtering may affect scramble quality in some heretofore unknown way, which we compensate by increasing scramble length.
(ii) At the time of writing, the UWR single is 100 moves, by James Macdiarmid. At this level of optimisation, deficiencies in the standard 70-move scrambles may still be significant enough to matter, especially with the aforementioned orientation filtering. Using scramble sequences of 100 moves seems like a reasonable compromise.
There are approximately 2^100/60 ≈ 2^94 possible scrambles subject to these constraints, from which 12 have been randomly and independently chosen. (This is still a far cry from the roughly 2^226 legal megaminx states in total, but it is not reasonable to expect you (me) to do 230-move scrambles accurately, repeatedly. Hence: compromise.)
Example scramble. (Not part of the competition!)
========
Twizzle notation
Assuming you have a megaminx with the standard modern colour scheme (popularised by MF8, I think), these are the names of the 12 faces:
U (white)
(anticlockwise order viewed from the top)
L (purple)
F (green)
R (red)
BR (blue)
BL (yellow)
(clockwise order viewed from the bottom)
DR (pink)
B (light green)
DL (orange)
FL (light blue)
FR (cream)
D (grey)
Rotations are denoted with a "v" suffix, e.g. BLv2 rotates the whole puzzle like a BL2 move. Wide moves are denoted with a "w" suffix. You may also use Pochmann notation R++/R--/D++/D--, although this will almost certainly not be useful.
Warning: This is a very time-consuming event. You should not even think of trying unless you have prior experience with FMC and with megaminx.
tl;dr: Best of 3, time limit 2.5 hours (Twizzle) or 3 hours (physical puzzles), submissions close at the end of the year.
1. This unofficial competition will be ranked on best of 3: the best result out of the first three scrambles. While 12 scrambles are provided, the 4th to 12th scrambles will not be taken into account for ranking purposes.
(If you get good results on all 12 scrambles and break the ao12 UWR, as I plan to do, that of course still counts as breaking the UWR.)
2. Standard online FMC rules apply: don't submit the inverse scramble, don't look up algorithms, don't look up others' solutions/results on the same scramble before you finish an attempt, provide an explanation. Use spoiler boxes if you want to discuss results before the end of the event.
3. You may use Twizzle or any similar puzzle simulator, provided that you use it only as a puzzle simulator. For example, you may not use the commutator/conjugate/mirror/inverse/NISS functionality of Twizzle; every move must be typed in individually, as-is. (This is not an exhaustive list of restrictions. Apply common sense.)
4. Use notation supported by Twizzle. Edit: See bottom section of this post. Twizzle will be used to verify your solutions. As mentioned above, commutator/conjugate notation, (x y z)' inverse notation and NISS caret notation are not allowed.
5. Solutions will be graded in the Face Turn Metric (FTM). There is no move limit. Include the move count together with your submission. In the event of a discrepancy, the actual length of the solution takes precedence.
6. The time limit is 2.5 hours or 3 hours per scramble depending on whether you use a puzzle simulator. You may take breaks, e.g. spending 1.5 hours on one day + 1 hour on the next day. (During any breaks taken, you may not look up alg sheets, etc.) Once you have started on a new scramble, you may not resume an attempt on an earlier scramble even if you did not exhaust the time limit.
(a) If you don't use a puzzle simulator at all, the time limit is 3 hours.
(b) If you use a puzzle simulator, but only for the purposes of drawing/verifying scrambles and verifying your final solution, the time limit is still 3 hours. (Checking the puzzle state mid-scramble is allowed. Drawing the inverse scramble is not allowed.)
(c) If you use a puzzle simulator for any other purpose (see rule #3), the time limit is 2.5 hours.
7. You may use any number of physical twisty puzzles during the attempt, including non-megaminx puzzles. Stickers are allowed.
8. This competition will start when the scrambles are posted and end at 2022-12-31 24:00:00 UTC = 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. (If you're a bit late, I'll still accept your submissions.)
9. You may submit your solutions either as a post in this thread or as a private message to me.
(If you get good results on all 12 scrambles and break the ao12 UWR, as I plan to do, that of course still counts as breaking the UWR.)
2. Standard online FMC rules apply: don't submit the inverse scramble, don't look up algorithms, don't look up others' solutions/results on the same scramble before you finish an attempt, provide an explanation. Use spoiler boxes if you want to discuss results before the end of the event.
3. You may use Twizzle or any similar puzzle simulator, provided that you use it only as a puzzle simulator. For example, you may not use the commutator/conjugate/mirror/inverse/NISS functionality of Twizzle; every move must be typed in individually, as-is. (This is not an exhaustive list of restrictions. Apply common sense.)
4. Use notation supported by Twizzle. Edit: See bottom section of this post. Twizzle will be used to verify your solutions. As mentioned above, commutator/conjugate notation, (x y z)' inverse notation and NISS caret notation are not allowed.
5. Solutions will be graded in the Face Turn Metric (FTM). There is no move limit. Include the move count together with your submission. In the event of a discrepancy, the actual length of the solution takes precedence.
6. The time limit is 2.5 hours or 3 hours per scramble depending on whether you use a puzzle simulator. You may take breaks, e.g. spending 1.5 hours on one day + 1 hour on the next day. (During any breaks taken, you may not look up alg sheets, etc.) Once you have started on a new scramble, you may not resume an attempt on an earlier scramble even if you did not exhaust the time limit.
(a) If you don't use a puzzle simulator at all, the time limit is 3 hours.
(b) If you use a puzzle simulator, but only for the purposes of drawing/verifying scrambles and verifying your final solution, the time limit is still 3 hours. (Checking the puzzle state mid-scramble is allowed. Drawing the inverse scramble is not allowed.)
(c) If you use a puzzle simulator for any other purpose (see rule #3), the time limit is 2.5 hours.
7. You may use any number of physical twisty puzzles during the attempt, including non-megaminx puzzles. Stickers are allowed.
8. This competition will start when the scrambles are posted and end at 2022-12-31 24:00:00 UTC = 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. (If you're a bit late, I'll still accept your submissions.)
9. You may submit your solutions either as a post in this thread or as a private message to me.
========
The scrambles used are Pochmann-style random-move scrambles (R++ D++ etc.), but with these two changes:
(i) The scramble will be in initial scramble orientation (i.e. white-top green-front on the standard colour scheme).
(ii) The scramble sequence will consist of 10 rows of 10 moves each, rather than 7 rows of 10 moves each.
The rationales for these deviations from WCA scrambles are:
(i) Puzzle reorientation is a waste of time, a significant source of human error, and does not meaningfully add to the event. Consider e.g. standard FMC, where scramble sequences never include wide moves or rotations. This orientation filtering may affect scramble quality in some heretofore unknown way, which we compensate by increasing scramble length.
(ii) At the time of writing, the UWR single is 100 moves, by James Macdiarmid. At this level of optimisation, deficiencies in the standard 70-move scrambles may still be significant enough to matter, especially with the aforementioned orientation filtering. Using scramble sequences of 100 moves seems like a reasonable compromise.
There are approximately 2^100/60 ≈ 2^94 possible scrambles subject to these constraints, from which 12 have been randomly and independently chosen. (This is still a far cry from the roughly 2^226 legal megaminx states in total, but it is not reasonable to expect you (me) to do 230-move scrambles accurately, repeatedly. Hence: compromise.)
Example scramble. (Not part of the competition!)
========
Twizzle notation
Assuming you have a megaminx with the standard modern colour scheme (popularised by MF8, I think), these are the names of the 12 faces:
U (white)
(anticlockwise order viewed from the top)
L (purple)
F (green)
R (red)
BR (blue)
BL (yellow)
(clockwise order viewed from the bottom)
DR (pink)
B (light green)
DL (orange)
FL (light blue)
FR (cream)
D (grey)
Rotations are denoted with a "v" suffix, e.g. BLv2 rotates the whole puzzle like a BL2 move. Wide moves are denoted with a "w" suffix. You may also use Pochmann notation R++/R--/D++/D--, although this will almost certainly not be useful.
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