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SpaceChem |OT| It's Not About Chemistry
- Thread starter 19Kilo
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The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Okay...I need to stop playing SpaceChem...I need to go buy food...
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
And even if you do get stuck but have an idea what to do, the option to brute force a solution is still there. But at least it's not random!TyrantGuardian said:
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Another quick tip for those starting that may not be apparent - you can change the red ins and outs to affect what blue ins/outs normally and vice-versa. Just right-click and select the other symbol.
Also, I just realized I haven't played in a long time. Here's my current progress:
Also, I just realized I haven't played in a long time. Here's my current progress:
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Oh yeah, this becomes absolutely necessary for any kind of efficiency as the game ramps up.XiaNaphryz said:
Toma said:You still need to drop in your mouth. No wonder why you are still hungry, very inefficient.
But I'm a zombie! Seriously I really hit a wall at like the first "real" mission, with the 3 storage tanks. But I just need to take a break because I'm doing stupid stuff.
toythatkills
Member
I used that technique almost from the very start. Maybe I just got lucky and noticed it when the tutorial told me to right-click. I'm sure there's a level in the tutorial where it forced me to do it though. I really should remember, it wasn't even that long ago!Toma said:
Does this have online leaderboards or anything? I dunno if the end of level scores are just showing me my own records because that's all it does, or because I've got nobody on my friends list.
In which case, if you're playing Spacechem, add toythatkills!
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
You should get a series of graphs at the end of each level that show you how you compare to everyone who plays it.toythatkills said:
The_Technomancer said:
... erm what? You do? The graphs you get are comparing to the leaderboards in general. And the "list" leaderboard only lists your friends.
Or did I miss something?
Edit: Apology below
toythatkills
Member
Yeah, that's what he saidToma said:
I guess it's 'cause I've got nobody on my Steam friends list that I'm seeing nobody but me in the leaderboards list
toythatkills said:Yeah, that's what he said
I guess it's 'cause I've got nobody on my Steam friends list that I'm seeing nobody but me in the leaderboards list
Aaaah damn. "You should". I read this as "Boy you know what would be great? You really should get graphs that..."
Stupid me. Sorry Techno for not being able to read properly
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Okay, the instructions don't explain Control Branches at all. I mean, I get how they should work but I have no clue what actually activates a branch. It says use them to "respond to external conditions". How?
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
The first defense level, with the moving tank.Toma said:
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Look at the bottom, you press certain keys to activate whether a branch is active or not. That way you can personally control when to send a waldo to a certain path.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Well I mean, this is what I currently have: http://steamcommunity.com/id/the_technomancer/screenshot/576675527060876543XiaNaphryz said:
EDIT: Wait, I get it. Are there ways to do automated logic later on, instead of manual?
Holy shit, I'd bought Spacechem finally as part of the Steam Summer sale and I just wanted to chime in and say it is one of the most brilliant puzzle games I've ever played. Absolute genius.
Every time I start a puzzle I begin without a clue, convinced I'll never solve it. Then I figure it out, and feel like a God. But then I see that my answer was sloppy as shit, and find some way to double its efficiency, making my old "God-like" solution look terrible.
Perfect.
Every time I start a puzzle I begin without a clue, convinced I'll never solve it. Then I figure it out, and feel like a God. But then I see that my answer was sloppy as shit, and find some way to double its efficiency, making my old "God-like" solution look terrible.
Perfect.
Finally I finished my first real hurdle. Something tells me I did it much, MUCH harder than it had to be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?hd=1&v=zermvNpMoiY
Not that it's visible or anything. But still.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?hd=1&v=zermvNpMoiY
Not that it's visible or anything. But still.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Oh yeah, sensing branches. Here we go!
DogWelder said:
4-3 so far. But yeah I can totally see where I can use that knowledge. I am actually more surprised that I still managed to get very good highscores without knowing that.
Edit: 4-4 now.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
You want to see "making it too hard on yourself"? Check out my video on the last page when I didn't know you could move bonders. Its actually pretty cool.DogWelder said:
I bought this on a whim (I don't do that often, but $5...), and I'm sure glad I did. Excellent game, even if I already know I'll probably never complete all the puzzles it comes with.
Earlier this year I was addicted to Train Yard on the iPhone. And while Spacechem is a very different game, they both fall into a 'circuit creation' puzzle game genre (is that a genre?). Not sure why I hesitated buying Spacechem anymore... now I need to get 3 tickets to grab the DLC.
Earlier this year I was addicted to Train Yard on the iPhone. And while Spacechem is a very different game, they both fall into a 'circuit creation' puzzle game genre (is that a genre?). Not sure why I hesitated buying Spacechem anymore... now I need to get 3 tickets to grab the DLC.
Earlier today I quit somewhere on planet 4. It is the third challenge of the game, where you have to solve the level using a single reactor. I tried a few different approaches but could not figure it out.
You get a mix of different molecules, have to unbond them, then re-bond them depending on what atoms they are. I think it would be fairly easy using a second reactor, but doing it in a single one seems crazy hard.
Not looking for ANY help at all (!!), just wondering whether you folks did this challenge?
Correction: The level is called "No Ordinary Headache"
You get a mix of different molecules, have to unbond them, then re-bond them depending on what atoms they are. I think it would be fairly easy using a second reactor, but doing it in a single one seems crazy hard.
Not looking for ANY help at all (!!), just wondering whether you folks did this challenge?
Correction: The level is called "No Ordinary Headache"
toythatkills
Member
Can someone have a look at this? It's early on, 3-2, It Takes Three.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63llmmS4mAo
That's what I made, but I realise that it's horribly inefficient (though actually kinda funny, I like the way the blue waldo moves the H out of the way of the red waldo before it drops the next one).
Just wondered how other people went at this one. It's the first time I've had to use three of the same input in one output and it confused me a little which is why my solution is kinda inelegant. It seems like a technique I'm gonna need a lot, so I need it working better than it is here!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63llmmS4mAo
That's what I made, but I realise that it's horribly inefficient (though actually kinda funny, I like the way the blue waldo moves the H out of the way of the red waldo before it drops the next one).
Just wondered how other people went at this one. It's the first time I've had to use three of the same input in one output and it confused me a little which is why my solution is kinda inelegant. It seems like a technique I'm gonna need a lot, so I need it working better than it is here!
Hahahahaaa, I did it. I received the achievement "Efficiency Specialist", which is funny because I had to use 17,000 cycles (!) to beat "No Ordinary Headache" with one reactor.
I'm quite certain there is a much better way to do it, so if people figure it out, I'd love to see the solution. I can post mine too if you like, but it's a bit unreadable, like a plate of spaghetti.
I'm quite certain there is a much better way to do it, so if people figure it out, I'd love to see the solution. I can post mine too if you like, but it's a bit unreadable, like a plate of spaghetti.
Spirit of Jazz
Banned
Just finished "No Ordinary Headache" and it was the first mission where I felt like I actually found an efficient solution. For the rest of the game it feels like I've been creating the most convoluted paths possible. It's the most fun I've had with a puzzle game in years though, I'm really looking forward to checking out other folks builds after I've finished the game just to see how terrible I am at it.
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Here's my solution for it. Been a while since I played that level, so I'm sure I could figure out something more efficient if I think about it for a while.toythatkills said:
http://i.imgur.com/rGIBw.png
toythatkills
Member
Amazing, thanks!XiaNaphryz said:
I already realise one stupid mistake, which is forgetting that putting "bond" on a bonder would just cause them all to bond to the one moving through. For some reason I was convinced I had to drop them all, bond them all, then come back through to pick them up.
lorebringer
Member
Gold bar on bottom left of main menu.
toythatkills
Member
More Spacechem expertise needed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?hd=1&v=c8VGY6KMxRg
The issue here was removing the bonds and then rebonding, and my solution is actually kinda good, but I'm not sure why it works.
In case it's not clear, once the hydrogens and oxygens are all dropped onto the bonders, the blue waldo removes all the bonds, and then puts new bonds back just in time for the red waldo to grab the complete thing and carry it off.
My problem is that the hydrogens bond to the oxygens, but not to each other. Why is this? If they bonded to each other the whole solution would be destroyed. I know that hydrogens are only allowed one bond and that's why they don't bond to the oxygen and the hydrogen, but I wondered if there was some hierarchy or something that caused them to bond to the oxygen instead of bonding to each other.
I've gotta admit, without knowing this my solution feels kinda cheaty :lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?hd=1&v=c8VGY6KMxRg
The issue here was removing the bonds and then rebonding, and my solution is actually kinda good, but I'm not sure why it works.
In case it's not clear, once the hydrogens and oxygens are all dropped onto the bonders, the blue waldo removes all the bonds, and then puts new bonds back just in time for the red waldo to grab the complete thing and carry it off.
My problem is that the hydrogens bond to the oxygens, but not to each other. Why is this? If they bonded to each other the whole solution would be destroyed. I know that hydrogens are only allowed one bond and that's why they don't bond to the oxygen and the hydrogen, but I wondered if there was some hierarchy or something that caused them to bond to the oxygen instead of bonding to each other.
I've gotta admit, without knowing this my solution feels kinda cheaty :lol
toythatkills
Member
Man, elaborate Spacechem gifs are weirdly hypnotic. I could sit and watch that for ages.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Hot damn this game is satisfying. Just beat Going Green. Took me five reactors though; one to break down the initial chemicals, two to sort all four chemicals, and two more to assemble the final molecule, first by building the cross shape and then shipping that off to have the hydrogen attached.
And yeah, it may not be about chemistry but they do adhere to some basic rules of chemistry, and I'm pretty sure Oxygen takes precedence.
And yeah, it may not be about chemistry but they do adhere to some basic rules of chemistry, and I'm pretty sure Oxygen takes precedence.