Escape Level : "Secret Square" by Max

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"Secret Square" by Max

added 20 Jun 2006 21:06

Solved 12/12

Cooked 0/12

Difficulty 4.41

Style 5.66

Rigidity 3.08

Shortest Solution
Name Speed Record

Length 730 moves

By Dave

On 11 Oct 2012 21:30

Comments (turn spoilers off)

16360 Secret Square Dave (2400) Thu 11 Oct 2012 21:30 SPOILER

Added speedrun: 730 moves (old: 760).

6583 Secret Square Eric119 (921) Thu 20 Jul 2006 18:41 SPOILER

Added speedrun: 760 moves (old: 800).
Improving Max's run.

6579 Secret Square wowei (685) Sat 15 Jul 2006 15:41

max's back !!! BIG levels with even BIGGER difficulties, but i'll get it ... someday ;)

6463 Secret Square Tom 7 (1) Fri 23 Jun 2006 08:14 SPOILER

Oops, right, 2 digits doesn't make sense. I don't know what I was thinking. I guess 4 digits is the smallest su doku that'll work that isn't completely trivial (though 4-digit puzzles are quite easy). I'd like to see an embedding...

6461 Secret Square Eric119 (921) Thu 22 Jun 2006 21:55 SPOILER

What is 2-digit sudoku, as 2 is not a perfect square?

4-digit sudoku is certainly a challenge. There's no simple way to test whether steel is grey or not. Nevertheless I'm sure it's possible to do sudoku, but the solution likely wouldn't fit within Escape level size constraints.

6457 Secret Square SPAM (1014) Wed 21 Jun 2006 10:06

Cool!

When I played Escape the first time, I thought it wouldn't be too hard to create Sudoku puzzles. I also had an simple strategy (though it also used a huge board), but then I recognized there was a number of maximum bots, so I can't check if the solution is right...

6456 Secret Square Tom 7 (1) Wed 21 Jun 2006 09:06 SPOILER

Wow, 'd' key is so useless for this. ;) I did figure it out, and it wasn't really that hard.

The puzzle itself is pretty loose, though. I have tried to do a su doku embedding before (my best strategy required a HUGE board). I like this technique better, though I think there aren't enough colors to represent anything more than 2-digit su doku. And it's not clear how to check the final su doku condition, being that every sub-square has exactly one of each digit.

So, who can do a faithful su doku with 2 or 4 digits?

6455 Secret Square Max (61) Tue 20 Jun 2006 21:08 SPOILER

WARNING: SPOILER HINT!!!

The puzzle was inspired by Sudoku...

6454 Secret Square Max (61) Tue 20 Jun 2006 21:06

'Secret Square' uploaded by Max:
Well, here's my first level in months. It started from a fairly simple idea but turned into a pretty substantial project due to the complicated series of verifications necessary to restrict the puzzle. The "puzzle" part of the level is solely contained in the square; after you complete the square, everything else is a series of no-choice moves that allow the level to test whether the square is done correctly. So if the level appears to break and you get stuck, you did something wrong with the square.

The hardest part of the puzzle is figuring out what configuration the square is supposed to be in. I'd rather not give it away since I think it's logically deductible if you look at the level design, but here are some hints:

1. Where to place the colored blocks is the crucial part.
2. There are tons of configurations that will solve the puzzle, but they all adhere to the same rule.

I'll leave a "spoiler" hint that you can check if you get frustrated and need some more direction.

Comments (turn spoilers off)

16360	Secret Square	Dave (2400)	Thu 11 Oct 2012 21:30	SPOILER
	Added speedrun: 730 moves (old: 760).

6583	Secret Square	Eric119 (921)	Thu 20 Jul 2006 18:41	SPOILER
	Added speedrun: 760 moves (old: 800). Improving Max's run.

6579	Secret Square	wowei (685)	Sat 15 Jul 2006 15:41
	max's back !!! BIG levels with even BIGGER difficulties, but i'll get it ... someday ;)

6463	Secret Square	Tom 7 (1)	Fri 23 Jun 2006 08:14	SPOILER
	Oops, right, 2 digits doesn't make sense. I don't know what I was thinking. I guess 4 digits is the smallest su doku that'll work that isn't completely trivial (though 4-digit puzzles are quite easy). I'd like to see an embedding...

6461	Secret Square	Eric119 (921)	Thu 22 Jun 2006 21:55	SPOILER
	What is 2-digit sudoku, as 2 is not a perfect square? 4-digit sudoku is certainly a challenge. There's no simple way to test whether steel is grey or not. Nevertheless I'm sure it's possible to do sudoku, but the solution likely wouldn't fit within Escape level size constraints.

6457	Secret Square	SPAM (1014)	Wed 21 Jun 2006 10:06
	Cool! When I played Escape the first time, I thought it wouldn't be too hard to create Sudoku puzzles. I also had an simple strategy (though it also used a huge board), but then I recognized there was a number of maximum bots, so I can't check if the solution is right...

6456	Secret Square	Tom 7 (1)	Wed 21 Jun 2006 09:06	SPOILER
	Wow, 'd' key is so useless for this. ;) I did figure it out, and it wasn't really that hard. The puzzle itself is pretty loose, though. I have tried to do a su doku embedding before (my best strategy required a HUGE board). I like this technique better, though I think there aren't enough colors to represent anything more than 2-digit su doku. And it's not clear how to check the final su doku condition, being that every sub-square has exactly one of each digit. So, who can do a faithful su doku with 2 or 4 digits?

6455	Secret Square	Max (61)	Tue 20 Jun 2006 21:08	SPOILER
	WARNING: SPOILER HINT!!! The puzzle was inspired by Sudoku...

6454	Secret Square	Max (61)	Tue 20 Jun 2006 21:06
	'Secret Square' uploaded by Max: Well, here's my first level in months. It started from a fairly simple idea but turned into a pretty substantial project due to the complicated series of verifications necessary to restrict the puzzle. The "puzzle" part of the level is solely contained in the square; after you complete the square, everything else is a series of no-choice moves that allow the level to test whether the square is done correctly. So if the level appears to break and you get stuck, you did something wrong with the square. The hardest part of the puzzle is figuring out what configuration the square is supposed to be in. I'd rather not give it away since I think it's logically deductible if you look at the level design, but here are some hints: 1. Where to place the colored blocks is the crucial part. 2. There are tons of configurations that will solve the puzzle, but they all adhere to the same rule. I'll leave a "spoiler" hint that you can check if you get frustrated and need some more direction.