Older cubers discussions

[newtonbase]

Yeah, I would have had a tough time working out EO from the outset. Even 8 months into CFOP I still had difficultly planning all 4 cross edges and it's only recently that I've developed a grasp of general EO and its implications. I think it's a foregone conclusion that I'm going to give it a go, though. I was literally giggling on every solve for over an hour. You know what has to happen when it's that much fun.

Working out the EO is a fun little puzzle that I can sort of do. Adding in the line is extra tricky. I've never learned full OLL (but can do most of the corners only ones from 2 angles) and the thought of not having to is appealing. Might be worth joining the race to sub 40s thread for it soonish.

 

[pglewis]

Yes. I had to learn a new alg for when the corner is already placed which is a bit crazy but some are really fast and pretty easy despite the fixed orientation.

Yeah, like you and @One Wheel I already discovered I have to work out a few new ways of dealing with cases given the move restrictions. Even if I end up doing an about-face and return to CFOP I'll have some new rotationless RUL solutions in the tool-belt.

Might be worth joining the race to sub 40s thread for it soonish.

I've avoided the "race to" threads thus far because I'm easily distracted by... wait, what were we talking about? Oh, right, switching methods in the midst of racing to a sub-20 single. I can just picture me getting .1 away from my goal and discovering Megaminx.

 

[phreaker]

Cool to see so many people discussing ZZ. . I've been a long time ZZ solver... I really enjoy it, as an OH solver.

EO isnt THAT bad... It is learning EOLine that's hard... I'd encourage people learning ZZ to start with just EO + Line, then move to EOLine, the jump is mainly in tracking where edges land and altering your planning. So until you are comfortable planning base EO, it is hard to understand how it works.

I've got to work on my EOLine -> ZZF2L transition, and learn some of the cases better, in ZZF2L. Some of them I sense I've figured it out.. some I need more work.

Ironically, I've practiced OH so much... I have issues with 2H now.. Once and a while I have to finish off a solve OH... :/

 

[newtonbase]

EO isnt THAT bad... It is learning EOLine that's hard... I'd encourage people learning ZZ to start with just EO + Line, then move to EOLine, the jump is mainly in tracking where edges land and altering your planning. So until you are comfortable planning base EO, it is hard to understand how it works.

Thanks for the tip. I didn't know if I should force myself to do EOLine. Glad to hear that I don't need to.

Ironically, I've practiced OH so much... I have issues with 2H now.. Once and a while I have to finish off a solve OH... :/

I think @SenorJuan has had the same issue.

 

[phreaker]

Cube update: Got in a pair of stickerless Weilong GTS2.

Overall, I like the GTS2... Though it can be a bit locky, it is nothing near as bad as a Gan AIR.

It looks a bit like a valk... feels nothing like a valk. Very slick, and fast, and a bit wobbly, unlike a Valk.

Magnets really change the cube, fixing the wobbly nature, and making the cube much better behaved. If the cube wasn't designed with magnets in mind, I'd be surprised... It really responds well to them.

I really like the feel of the cube with magnets... for some reason, it just feels like it might be a good cube for BLD, with magnets. I can't really explain why... but the way it turns, with the internal ridges and tracks.. and the magnets, really gives a ton of confidence in what the cube is doing.

I may setup two of them... one for 2H, with stronger magnets, and one for OH with weaker ones.. (already done.) we'll see... I've got a second in house already... just a matter of what will happen to it... may be contingent on what I think of this one as I get it fully setup and going.

 

[phreaker]

Thanks for the tip. I didn't know if I should force myself to do EOLine. Glad to hear that I don't need to.

it should be your long term goal... but if you read the page at http://cube.crider.co.uk/zz.php?p=eoline and your eyes gloss, at understanding where the edges land, and in which groups... then you probably aren't ready. I know it took me a while. I mastered cross pretty quick... EOLine took me a while.

I think @SenorJuan has had the same issue.

I've heard many OH cubers end up with that issue. It is just part of the whole thing. But I enjoy OH. Always have.

It's probably slowed my overall progress.. but... Cubing is about fun... not progress.

 

[mafergut]

I hate that there are no mass produced magnetic 3x3s yet. If the GTS2 has been designed with magnets in mind... why not make a magnetic version already? It would be so easy to include receptacles in the molds to contain the magnets and then just assemble some of them with / some without the magnets inside.

Yeah, now I'm planning on making my own "Yan3 M" but it would be so nice to have some choices off-the-shelf already. What are Moyu, Qiyi and Yuxin waiting for?

 

[phreaker]

I hate that there are no mass produced magnetic 3x3s yet. If the GTS2 has been designed with magnets in mind... why not make a magnetic version already? It would be so easy to include receptacles in the molds to contain the magnets and then just assemble some of them with / some without the magnets inside.

I'd like just a notch for the magnet to go in, and be aligned properly. like single little plastic line to make sure alignment is right. The magnets should always be against the edge of the cube... so it shouldn't take much to make a cube easier to magnetize.

Yeah, now I'm planning on making my own "Yan3 M" but it would be so nice to have some choices off-the-shelf already. What are Moyu, Qiyi and Yuxin waiting for?

Agreed... though stocking magnets may be hard? Especially in the bulk that those companies might need... Though they do Pyraminxes and Skewbs already... But those are smaller production run puzzles if I had to guess.

 

[newtonbase]

I wonder if there is any commercial advantage to making cubes that are easier to magnetise. Someone should try it maybe with a mid range cube.

Personally I enjoy doing them myself so they would have to have a very small markup for to consider buying them ready made.

I'm looking forward to doing my 6 Thunderclaps once the correct magnets arrive. I reckon I could do them all in maybe 2 and a half hours if I could get that much time free.

 

[phreaker]

I wonder if there is any commercial advantage to making cubes that are easier to magnetise. Someone should try it maybe with a mid range cube.

Personally I enjoy doing them myself so they would have to have a very small markup for to consider buying them ready made.

I'm looking forward to doing my 6 Thunderclaps once the correct magnets arrive. I reckon I could do them all in maybe 2 and a half hours if I could get that much time free.

It took me about 1 to 1.5hrs to get my GTS2 done, all said and done. I'm not that fast at it.. or I'm picky... one of the two .

I suspect that the issue is the labor + the cost of the magnets. Cubes are price sensitive items... $3 for magnets would be quite reasonable, but can they make those economics work? Who knows.

 

[Jason Green]

I hate that there are no mass produced magnetic 3x3s yet. If the GTS2 has been designed with magnets in mind... why not make a magnetic version already? It would be so easy to include receptacles in the molds to contain the magnets and then just assemble some of them with / some without the magnets inside.

The GAN 356 AUM is mass produced. Still pricey though.

This is a pretty cool video comparing DNM 37 with Maru. Mari does not last long for sure, I have not tried DNM 37. I've pretty much quit using Maru because I'm too lazy.

 

[One Wheel]

I hate that there are no mass produced magnetic 3x3s yet. If the GTS2 has been designed with magnets in mind... why not make a magnetic version already? It would be so easy to include receptacles in the molds to contain the magnets and then just assemble some of them with / some without the magnets inside.

Yeah, now I'm planning on making my own "Yan3 M" but it would be so nice to have some choices off-the-shelf already. What are Moyu, Qiyi and Yuxin waiting for?

I'm sure the development cycle for cubes is a lot faster than for, say, a car, but magnets in cubes is really a pretty new thing. I posted in the thread about the Qiyi clock that I was interested in a magnetic alignment mechanism for cubes on July 22nd, 2016. It was a new enough idea at that time that people responded with magnetic pyraminx and magnetic dice cubes to show it had already been tried.

 

[JohnnyReggae]

I may have started an avalanche last night. It began by looking farther down the road to "what comes after full OLL for me", now that I'm about half way through, and the obvious answer seems to be COLL. Then I started thinking about edge control in order to land COLL cases consistently which lead me to thinking "or you could just use ZZ".

So I figured out how solving EO works just to get my feet wet, solving EO+CFOP just for the sake of demonstration. It turned into a giggle-fest for me with rotationless, super-easy F2Ls and OCLL every time, of course. EOLine + blockbuilding wouldn't be a difficult adaptation with a little practice to learn the ropes. I would already be able to 2-look the last layer worst case every time with OCLL + PLL and could start picking up COLL immediately. Honestly, if I felt I could work out EOLine or even EO+Line fairly quickly I'd switch this second.

I looked into ZZ a little while back. I really like it as a method and is a fairly easy transition for a CFOP solver. At the moment I still only do EO and then the line, I can't do both at the same time. I've also found that you need to think about the ZZF2L as you do have more freedom to build the blocks so you can do some different pairing methods. I'd suggest having a look at a bunch of ZZ walkthrough solves.

I've managed a 30 second solve with ZZ when I was averaging around 20/21 seconds with CFOP, but an easy EO had a lot to do with that. For now I'm sticking with CFOP, but I still do a few ZZ solves now and again. I want to spend more time with ZZ ...

I hate that there are no mass produced magnetic 3x3s yet. If the GTS2 has been designed with magnets in mind... why not make a magnetic version already? It would be so easy to include receptacles in the molds to contain the magnets and then just assemble some of them with / some without the magnets inside.

Yeah, now I'm planning on making my own "Yan3 M" but it would be so nice to have some choices off-the-shelf already. What are Moyu, Qiyi and Yuxin waiting for?

The thing I've found with magnets, like with all cubes, is that there is a lot of personal preference. I've used magnets in my AIR that most people seem to like a lot and I found them too strong and destroyed the feeling of the cube for me. In order to make a viable product they would need to have some choice to cater for peoples needs/wants. Perhaps they would need to settle for a middle-of-the-road magnetic strength, and if you require something else you could make it yourself ? As long as the price of the magnetic cube is not as it currently is, which IMO is just way too much for what you get. I do understand labour costs etc and that it does actually cost that much to produce, however from a factory point of view that portion of the cost should be drastically reduced.

 

[muchacho]

Not sure but I would say I'm sub-20 now, so I've made another video for my playlist (last was a 19.868 Ao5 from October).

1. 16.807 F2 R2 D' F2 D F2 D' B2 U F2 D' F' D' F2 R2 B2 L F U' R' D U'
2. 20.094 L2 F2 D' L2 D2 U B2 F2 U' R2 D2 L' D2 L' B2 D' F' D' R2 F' L2
3. 20.966 D' F2 U' R2 L2 D2 B2 L2 D' F2 D' B L' F2 R' B' L2 D F' L2 F2 L'
4. 19.167 U' F2 U' L2 U' L2 B2 U R2 L2 B2 R' D2 B2 D' R2 L2 B R2 L' D2
5. 15.679 B2 L2 B2 F2 U B2 U' L2 D R2 L2 F' R' U' R B L' U' B' D R'

Ao5: 18.689

 

[Lid]

Got the Valk3 2 days ago now, yesterday I almost got a a12 2H PB, 15.524
And just today a new OH a12 PB, 23.488 (old was 23.78), so I think I have finally found a replacement for my old OH cube.

Times: 20.655, 21.372, 25.839, (26.918), 23.614, 24.524, 23.467, 21.643, (20.615), 24.110, 26.579, 23.076

Spoiler: Scambles

Average of 12: 23.488
1. 20.655 F2 D' R2 B D R2 F2 D' F' L2 U2 F2 L D2 B2 L D2 B2 R' F2
2. 21.372 R F' R L U L U2 L' F L F2 D2 F2 L' B2 L D2 R B2 L
3. 25.839 L2 D' B L2 U B R U L B D' R2 B2 U' L2 D' L2 B2 D2 L2 D'
4. (26.918) U' F2 U2 D R2 L D F U2 R2 D R2 B2 D' L2 B2 R2 B2 U
5. 23.614 B2 U B2 D2 L2 B2 U' B2 D2 F2 D' F' D' B' U' L D F R' F' L
6. 24.524 F2 R2 D B2 D R2 B2 D F2 D2 U L' U' F' D U' B' D2 F2 L
7. 23.467 B F2 R2 D2 U2 B' F2 L2 U2 F L2 R D2 B R B' U2 B' L' U' R2
8. 21.643 R' D B D' R L D2 B' R' F2 L2 F2 D B2 L2 B2 R2 U B2 U2
9. (20.615) R2 F2 L2 D B2 U' B2 D B2 D2 F2 L' B2 L' D L R2 F2 D' F' L
10. 24.110 D2 L2 F2 U2 R2 B2 D' L2 F2 D' L2 B' U2 L R F2 D B' F2 U' F
11. 26.579 U2 B' L2 B' D2 B2 U2 F' U2 L2 F' L F' L R' B' D' F' D' R'
12. 23.076 U2 R2 F2 R2 U' F2 U L2 U' L2 F2 L R' D' B' D' B U' F U

Got 2 comps comming up, this weekend and the last weekend of May.

 

[muchacho]

Congrats!

Which was your old OH cube? My Valk should arrive in less than 2 weeks, I hope.

 

[Lid]

Congrats!

Which was your old OH cube? My Valk should arrive in less than 2 weeks, I hope.

I've been using LingYun since it came in like 2008/9... going to get another Valk3 with my next cube buy.

(Also got a WuQue & a magnetic MoYu pyraminx this time.)

 

[phreaker]

I've been using LingYun since it came in like 2008/9... going to get another Valk3 with my next cube buy.

(Also got a WuQue & a magnetic MoYu pyraminx this time.)

For OH... If you like loose cubes.. the GTS2 is a nice cube. I like mine, magnetized .

Same size.. very different feel.

 

[Logiqx]

I finally got around to writing up my understanding of OLL parity + PLL parity + L2E.

https://www.speedsolving.com/forum/threads/relationship-of-oll-parity-pll-parity-l2e.64448/

This links to a new L2E page on my website.

 

[Fyzzna]

Got some new PBs

single: 20.81, ao5: 27.13, ao12: 29.58, ao50: 33.20

Also currently trying to learn two more first blocks (so that I can finally do my first block on every side with white on bottom), which made my times suck today but I have the feeling that it'll be worth it in the long run.