After two weeks, it was sunny, and I went swimming again. It was easier, though I ached more after. I met the same nice guy coming in. It was colder, though that was probably my imagination. At 6 they emptied us for an event, which sounded nice, but I was already on my way out.
Jul. 9th, 2007
Two more cheats for a d7
Jul. 9th, 2007 02:13 pm1. No-one says rolling dice has to result in a *face*. It's obviously more convenient, but if you roll your dice in a V-shaped valley, you'll end up with them landing on an edge. And you could get a corner by using a conical well. (Though you need to shake it to make sure it doesn't get stuck.) Then any polyhedron with 7n equivalent faces, or edges, or vertices would do the trick. Unfortunately, I don't think it helps, I think you need 7N faces or regular septagons to get 7N edges or vertices, which you can't have.
2. You can have it in six dimensions, though. A 6-dimensional tetrahedron has seven 5-d-tetrahedral faces.
2. You can have it in six dimensions, though. A 6-dimensional tetrahedron has seven 5-d-tetrahedral faces.
This is the sequel to DROD (caravelgames.com), that along with Chip's Challenge and Puzzle Pits inspired the Winnie-the-Pooh flash game.
It was very good. It felt easier than DROD, actually. I don't know if that's just because I'd got more used to the style, or was playing more intently. There were few rooms where I got really stuck, though many I had to take a break from.
I liked the story. Non-invasive, but funny and slightly creepy. Introducing story into a puzzle game is hard but they did it well.
I'm afraid I wimped out for hints three times -- once about half way when I wished I hadn't but was tired, once when I'd completed a room but wanted to know if I could retrace my steps without replaying it, and once on a too-tedious level on the penultimate level.
( Spoilers )
It was very good. It felt easier than DROD, actually. I don't know if that's just because I'd got more used to the style, or was playing more intently. There were few rooms where I got really stuck, though many I had to take a break from.
I liked the story. Non-invasive, but funny and slightly creepy. Introducing story into a puzzle game is hard but they did it well.
I'm afraid I wimped out for hints three times -- once about half way when I wished I hadn't but was tired, once when I'd completed a room but wanted to know if I could retrace my steps without replaying it, and once on a too-tedious level on the penultimate level.
( Spoilers )
Walking round baits bite lock
Jul. 9th, 2007 03:34 pmAnd on Sunday, it was still Sunny, so I shoved my books in my rucksack and went on a walk up to Baits Bite Lock, then round Fen Ditton and back over the Green Dragon footbridge. It was very pleasant, I've never been up past Fen Ditton before, I didn't used to think you *could* cross the lock.
I'm used to knowing so many people I meet people I know wherever I go out in Cambridge and London, now I do so at Fen Ditton :)
In the evening Tim and Rachel came over for tea. We are planning a regular evening; since leaving college we don't see enough of each other.
I'm used to knowing so many people I meet people I know wherever I go out in Cambridge and London, now I do so at Fen Ditton :)
In the evening Tim and Rachel came over for tea. We are planning a regular evening; since leaving college we don't see enough of each other.
Traffic "calming"
Jul. 9th, 2007 04:19 pmOn Friday I was cycling up the top of Campkin road, and passing the "road narrowed" zebra crossing, when I found a white van heading straight for me. Fortunately, we could both stop, and I squeezed off onto the pavement and all was fine.
The thing is, me being obviously in the wrong, would have been very annoying. Him been obviously in the wrong, would also have been very annoying. But as he passed, he called out of the window. It was either "My god, I'm sorry, mate!" or "Can't you fucking read, mate?" but I can't tell which, and being left not knowing whether to be sympathetic or angry with him was VERY VERY annoying.
(Give way markings and a sign saying "give way to oncoming traffic" in that direction, and not in this direction, incline me to the view that he should have stopped.)
The thing is, me being obviously in the wrong, would have been very annoying. Him been obviously in the wrong, would also have been very annoying. But as he passed, he called out of the window. It was either "My god, I'm sorry, mate!" or "Can't you fucking read, mate?" but I can't tell which, and being left not knowing whether to be sympathetic or angry with him was VERY VERY annoying.
(Give way markings and a sign saying "give way to oncoming traffic" in that direction, and not in this direction, incline me to the view that he should have stopped.)
Winnie-The-Pooh Game
Jul. 9th, 2007 04:49 pmI looked out the flash game I wrote again (http://cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com/222925.html). Level 20 was hard, it took me half an hour to solve, and I *wrote* it.
I had some other impressions:
* Roguelike mode is very useful, without it its too tedious walking round levels that take a long time.
* You really need a "reset" key, it's stupid that you need the mouse
* Some of the interactions are too subtle. Beetles jump into a 1-wide chasm, but no further. Which makes sense, but it's not clear. I could add some more levels to pad it out a bit, that would be fun, but not every single level introducing a subtlety of behaviour. That was definitely the best effort/reward at the time, but it does mean it can be hard, or too quickly completed if it isn't hard.
* Pooh should be able to see at angles!
But when I found it hard, I remembered several people had been stuck on some level or other, but in the midst of a party I couldn't really help them. If you wanted to ask for hints, I can help you now :)
I had some other impressions:
* Roguelike mode is very useful, without it its too tedious walking round levels that take a long time.
* You really need a "reset" key, it's stupid that you need the mouse
* Some of the interactions are too subtle. Beetles jump into a 1-wide chasm, but no further. Which makes sense, but it's not clear. I could add some more levels to pad it out a bit, that would be fun, but not every single level introducing a subtlety of behaviour. That was definitely the best effort/reward at the time, but it does mean it can be hard, or too quickly completed if it isn't hard.
* Pooh should be able to see at angles!
But when I found it hard, I remembered several people had been stuck on some level or other, but in the midst of a party I couldn't really help them. If you wanted to ask for hints, I can help you now :)
Conclusive, from the horse's mouth?
Jul. 9th, 2007 07:07 pmWell, one or other end of the horse, anyway :)
This probably won't be the end. But I finally stopped thinking about actual instantiations, and stepped back to consider what minimal theoretical conditions the d7 I want must satisfy.
To be theoretically fair, you need (a multiple of) seven orientations, each of which is equivalent to any of the others. Whether those are faces, or edges, and whatever other features there are, the fact that any must be equivalent to any of the others means they must be a symmetry group.
I think a "kind of spherical" die could be defined as one that has more than one axis of >2 rotational symmetry. Some messing around makes this seem unlikely (if you have two, the second must map to six more under rotation by the first, and vice versa, and those do not look like they can overlap) .
But fortunately, this is a completely solved problem, witness an exhaustive list from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_groups_in_three_dimensions.
The only shapes with more than one genuine axis of symmetry correspond to the platonic solids. (Not just those, eg. a cube made up out of parallelagrams and other interesting dice qualify too.)
But there are no sevens to be seen. Thus, for 3d dice, without messing around with dynamics, the only ones with a multiple of seven can be around one axis, eg:
* The pencil, with ends flat, or curved to a point, or with seven-sided pyramid points.
* A seven-sided dipyramid, a la the octohedron for 4. (Seven edges round the middle, forming seven triangular faces with the points at the top, and the same at the bottom.)
* A twice-seven-sided Trapezohedron, a la d10. (Fourteen zig-zag sides round the middle, forming seven kite-faces with the point at the top, and the same at the bottom.)
* Gyroelongated_dipyramid, one of those padded out with more triangles round the middle. This probably looks most spherical, I'd like one of these.
NB: The actual 3d solution used is a pentagonal prism, which is nearly fair but not theoretically so.
This probably won't be the end. But I finally stopped thinking about actual instantiations, and stepped back to consider what minimal theoretical conditions the d7 I want must satisfy.
To be theoretically fair, you need (a multiple of) seven orientations, each of which is equivalent to any of the others. Whether those are faces, or edges, and whatever other features there are, the fact that any must be equivalent to any of the others means they must be a symmetry group.
I think a "kind of spherical" die could be defined as one that has more than one axis of >2 rotational symmetry. Some messing around makes this seem unlikely (if you have two, the second must map to six more under rotation by the first, and vice versa, and those do not look like they can overlap) .
But fortunately, this is a completely solved problem, witness an exhaustive list from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_groups_in_three_dimensions.
The only shapes with more than one genuine axis of symmetry correspond to the platonic solids. (Not just those, eg. a cube made up out of parallelagrams and other interesting dice qualify too.)
But there are no sevens to be seen. Thus, for 3d dice, without messing around with dynamics, the only ones with a multiple of seven can be around one axis, eg:
* The pencil, with ends flat, or curved to a point, or with seven-sided pyramid points.
* A seven-sided dipyramid, a la the octohedron for 4. (Seven edges round the middle, forming seven triangular faces with the points at the top, and the same at the bottom.)
* A twice-seven-sided Trapezohedron, a la d10. (Fourteen zig-zag sides round the middle, forming seven kite-faces with the point at the top, and the same at the bottom.)
* Gyroelongated_dipyramid, one of those padded out with more triangles round the middle. This probably looks most spherical, I'd like one of these.
NB: The actual 3d solution used is a pentagonal prism, which is nearly fair but not theoretically so.