More_Badass
Member
Game is out of Early Access
http://store.steampowered.com/app/370360/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/370360/
TIS-100 | Programming puzzle game from SpaceChem dev & GAF's 77th Best GOTY 2015
- Thread starter More_Badass
- Start date
Excellent. I hope technically-minded gamers will give this a look.
Picked this up since it's out of Early Access, I better be able to beat it 100% lol.
Kinda fun so far, need to print out the manual for sure though to be able to glance at the instruction set until I know it all. I did enjoy my MIPS class in college so this is bringing back nice memories.
Kinda fun so far, need to print out the manual for sure though to be able to glance at the instruction set until I know it all. I did enjoy my MIPS class in college so this is bringing back nice memories.
So I picked this up, and so far I've found all of the puzzles (other than the first one) to be pretty hard. The inability to pass state around due to only having one register, the risk of deadlock due to blocking reads and writes on adjacent nodes, and the limit on number of instructions per node makes the solutions to even basic problems non-trivial. I'm actually a software developer, and a couple of the puzzles have left me scratching my head for a good long while. That said, actually solving a puzzle feels like an accomplishment, and I like that a lot.
For people wondering if TIS-100 is a good introduction to programming or assembly, I'd say "probably not". Most systems have a very different architecture with multiple registers, and usually only work on a single 'node', so the concepts may not fully transfer. On top of that, I'd imagine that non-programmers would have a really hard time with this game. Some simple tutorials to ease newer developers into the game would be very useful. The instruction manual is useful (and very well presented), but hardly enough.
For people wondering if TIS-100 is a good introduction to programming or assembly, I'd say "probably not". Most systems have a very different architecture with multiple registers, and usually only work on a single 'node', so the concepts may not fully transfer. On top of that, I'd imagine that non-programmers would have a really hard time with this game. Some simple tutorials to ease newer developers into the game would be very useful. The instruction manual is useful (and very well presented), but hardly enough.
Played this the entire evening yesterday. What a wonderful little game but I did not even get halfway but I enjoy that it is challenging. Love the manual as well!
A bit strange of a day. Watched 'The Internet's Own Boy', a documentary about Aaron Swartz. Apparently he played around with programming in Basic as a kid. Remember that I also did that on my Amiga 500, did not have quite the same success though. Anyway, nostalgia struck already there and then I found TIS-100. Perfect timing in the game's favor.
A bit strange of a day. Watched 'The Internet's Own Boy', a documentary about Aaron Swartz. Apparently he played around with programming in Basic as a kid. Remember that I also did that on my Amiga 500, did not have quite the same success though. Anyway, nostalgia struck already there and then I found TIS-100. Perfect timing in the game's favor.
BigWeather
Member
I'm wondering if listening to Boston* will help me in this game.
*In 1990 I was taking assembler in college and had just gotten in to Boston. Many an all-nighter to the first two albums on repeat, banging out code. Bliss.
*In 1990 I was taking assembler in college and had just gotten in to Boston. Many an all-nighter to the first two albums on repeat, banging out code. Bliss.
d00d3n
Member
This game is fantastic. It is a truly free-form puzzle game that will require you to think creatively. Looking at my abysmal cycle and instruction counts in the last few levels, it is obvious that you can solve levels in more efficient and elegant ways than I can even think of. I am still proud of my sequence feeder (for the index problem), which cycles the sequence between two memory stacks and sends out the sequence every half-cycle, though ... You get a real attachment to the computing units you come up with in this game, and I am only half-kidding when I say that ...
This is probably the game I have had most fun with this year, but it is obviously an acquired taste. I am interested in programming on a hobby basis, but have zero experience with low level programming, so maybe that is way the game struck a chord with me. I would guess that the game is slightly less satisfying if you are a computer scientist who has solved these kind of problems in assembly before, but for me the challenge level has been almost perfect. I strongly recommend this game for anyone who is interested in programming or just solving tough logical problems in general.
This is probably the game I have had most fun with this year, but it is obviously an acquired taste. I am interested in programming on a hobby basis, but have zero experience with low level programming, so maybe that is way the game struck a chord with me. I would guess that the game is slightly less satisfying if you are a computer scientist who has solved these kind of problems in assembly before, but for me the challenge level has been almost perfect. I strongly recommend this game for anyone who is interested in programming or just solving tough logical problems in general.
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
charlequin, Gotchaye, besada, Aeana, and I have all been playing this this weekend since it is 50% off on the Steam sale. I think the average amount of time we've played in the last 2 days has been around 7-8 hours. This is a good-ass game.
I'm looking for more friends to have on my leaderboards. Anyone want to post their Steam profile?
I'm looking for more friends to have on my leaderboards. Anyone want to post their Steam profile?
http://steamcommunity.com/id/rhfb
Still not done with all the puzzles, and some of the solutions I've found for the harder levels are less than optimal
Just picked up the game. Did the first puzzle row and am currently sitting here waiting for my overly long process to complete on the self-test assuming my math isn't completely off. I've been trying to do some fancy stuff and it turns out to be way worse speed-wise after thinking about it some more. D:
edit:oh shoot the math is probably wrong even better it was an infinite loop due to bad logic
http://steamcommunity.com/id/Saprol
edit:
http://steamcommunity.com/id/Saprol
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
For anyone just picking the game up, please make sure to check out the achievements. Several achievements have you solve puzzles using very interesting constraints, and I really enjoyed them.
There's also an achievement for solving a hidden puzzle. I especially enjoyed the hidden puzzle. If you haven't found it yet, here are some hints:
There's also an achievement for solving a hidden puzzle. I especially enjoyed the hidden puzzle. If you haven't found it yet, here are some hints:
1) The achievement is called illegal eagle.
2) There's an eagle on the copy protection screen.
3) You get to the copy protection screen from the main level select. Read the manual.
Thanks for the reminder, i need to get back to this game asap
I really hope that catch up sales, the launch wasnt too successful for them unfortunately.
Game is just awesome.
Looks like the game is sitting at over 50k which doesn't seem that bad given the game type.
I need to get back into this game. Was really enjoying it, but I'm easily distracted.
https://steamcommunity.com/id/troublet/
this guy are sick
Member
http://steamcommunity.com/id/thants
Bought it at release and stopped playing after I hit the final store, no one else has this on my friends list lol. I'll add everyone else in the thread and it might push me on to finish it and rework some of my older solutions
Boom. Here's my link.
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198028257716/
I was doing pretty well against a developer at ********* back during the Early Access period. Then my progress got wiped when they released. I should get back to it.
I can heartily recommend Human Resource Machine too. Similar idea, different execution.
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198028257716/
I was doing pretty well against a developer at ********* back during the Early Access period. Then my progress got wiped when they released. I should get back to it.
I can heartily recommend Human Resource Machine too. Similar idea, different execution.
Far simpler. I did assembly in MIPS when I was in college and TIS-100 is even simpler than that. There are only about a dozen instructions total.
NotMyUsername
Member
Just want to get in on the fun and share my username to get more friends playing this for leaderboards stuff. I've only done the first few levels the other night but I'll play more tonight or the next few nights. I'll add some folks from here when I get on Steam next.
http://steamcommunity.com/id/Wibblewozzer/
I didn't even realize I was starting and beating the first level when I did it. I misunderstood the menu so I thought I somehow entered some sort of tutorial or maybe even a testing ground to just try out random program ideas. So I skimmed the manual, figured out what it wanted, and then I was like, "Oh hey, first level beat? Neato!"
http://steamcommunity.com/id/Wibblewozzer/
I didn't even realize I was starting and beating the first level when I did it. I misunderstood the menu so I thought I somehow entered some sort of tutorial or maybe even a testing ground to just try out random program ideas. So I skimmed the manual, figured out what it wanted, and then I was like, "Oh hey, first level beat? Neato!"
NotMyUsername
Member
It's complete. BUSY_LOOP the way I first imagined it. Completely unnecessary and I also can't gauge my real playtime anymore.
Congrats! I've been thinking of working out that achievement. With how I rank on the leaderboards with the small handful of folks from here I almost always require the most cycles so it shouldn't be that much of a challenge for me to get that one, heh.
I feel confident I'll be able to figure out most all levels as I pick through it between playing other games but my solutions tend to feel sloppy which shows in the cycle count. I do tend to do alright in keeping nodes down. Instructions on the other hand...
I just played this for 3 hours straight after winning it. Please add me if you completed more than 2 levels! (Steam: durante_)
My 20 instruction sequence counter is a thing of beauty.
Edit:
I spammed out friend invites to basically everyone who posted their profile above. Just in case you were wondering!
My 20 instruction sequence counter is a thing of beauty.
Edit:
I spammed out friend invites to basically everyone who posted their profile above. Just in case you were wondering!
Oh man, I'm going to be embarrassed having you on my leaderboard, lol.
I can have the famous Durante make me feel bad about my bad programming? I'm in.
Anyone else who wants to can add me too:
http://steamcommunity.com/id/Erheller/
I bought it, played for little over an hour and am already loving it.
I sent requests to y'all, need friends to embarrass me/be embarrassed by my optimization skills.
http://steamcommunity.com/id/pcdateixeira/
I sent requests to y'all, need friends to embarrass me/be embarrassed by my optimization skills.
http://steamcommunity.com/id/pcdateixeira/
"Just".
I guess that's the sane way to look at it.
What I know is that this night I started playing this game, and now it's 5 am and I haven't eaten or drunk anything, or slept. This never happens when I play games.
Only when I program.
chrominance
Member
Oh god why did I even think comparing my results to Durante's scoreboards would make me feel better about my programming skills.
None of my friends own the game, I could use some new ones to compare my terrible scores to! http://steamcommunity.com/id/FLD/
Haven't played in a while but, if it's anything like SpaceChem, the added incentive to go back and optimize your solutions should make the game even more fun.
Haven't played in a while but, if it's anything like SpaceChem, the added incentive to go back and optimize your solutions should make the game even more fun.
NotMyUsername
Member
My solved programs are getting thrashed by Durante and my CS classmates who started playing as well. ;_;
However, I cantemporarilyclaim victory over Durante at the signal comparator.Please stop optimizing.
You always have me to raise your spirits.
I think I know why I enjoy this even more than other Zachtronics games.
In those, the later levels impose a massive overhead to trying out ideas simply due to the way you interface with them. Arriving at any solution at all takes a very long time, and that discourages me from trying radically different methods during optimization.
Due to the design (fixed relatively small size) and interface (code) choices in TIS-100, this can't really happen. Even the later levels (like "Exposure Mask Viewer" which I just did) can be completed in ~20 minutes, and experimenting with better solutions takes even less time.
In short, I think the barrier from idea to trying it is smaller than in any other Zachtronics game, even if the idea is really somewhat sophisticated.
Anyway, I now have quite a few people in my friend list who are really good at the game, but still only 1 (one!) has completed the "Sequence Sorter". Looking forward to getting to that
If anyone else has actually completed that level, do send me a friend invite.
In those, the later levels impose a massive overhead to trying out ideas simply due to the way you interface with them. Arriving at any solution at all takes a very long time, and that discourages me from trying radically different methods during optimization.
Due to the design (fixed relatively small size) and interface (code) choices in TIS-100, this can't really happen. Even the later levels (like "Exposure Mask Viewer" which I just did) can be completed in ~20 minutes, and experimenting with better solutions takes even less time.
In short, I think the barrier from idea to trying it is smaller than in any other Zachtronics game, even if the idea is really somewhat sophisticated.
Anyway, I now have quite a few people in my friend list who are really good at the game, but still only 1 (one!) has completed the "Sequence Sorter". Looking forward to getting to that
If anyone else has actually completed that level, do send me a friend invite.
I think I know why I enjoy this even more than other Zachtronics games.
In those, the later levels impose a massive overhead to trying out ideas simply due to the way you interface with them. Arriving at any solution at all takes a very long time, and that discourages me from trying radically different methods during optimization.
Due to the design (fixed relatively small size) and interface (code) choices in TIS-100, this can't really happen. Even the later levels (like "Exposure Mask Viewer" which I just did) can be completed in ~20 minutes, and experimenting with better solutions takes even less time.
In short, I think the barrier from idea to trying it is smaller than in any other Zachtronics game, even if the idea is really somewhat sophisticated.
Anyway, I now have quite a few people in my friend list who are really good at the game, but still only 1 (one!) has completed the "Sequence Sorter". Looking forward to getting to that
If anyone else has actually completed that level, do send me a friend invite.
I feel this way about most of the early levels. Probably 1/3 of my total playtime was the game sitting with Signal Multiplier open and me occasionally going over to it and trying some new way to beat Cyan's score (I eventually did, and our solutions are nothing alike, but I did only get mine after looking at his). It's great how easy it is to try something radically different from what you were doing before.
The later ones definitely feel tedious to me in the same way that later Spacechem levels did, though. Sequence Sorter is probably the best example of one that I really have no desire to try to optimize or rework. For a bunch of those I basically just went through and got a solution, and then maybe I parallelized it for some easy cycle gains, before moving on. I've had the most fun trying to optimize some of the really simple levels. Really happy with my 127 on Differential Converter (#3) or my 232 on Comparator (#4), for example, but those are the ones where it's fun for me to keep trying new kinds of solutions. I like the later ones too, but the appeal is in doing them once and not in going back and doing them over and over to minimize cycles.