Loadstar 128 24/q24.d81/t.quadra

Text File | 2022-08-28 | 4KB | 77 lines

                               Q U A D R A

                            by Robert B. Cook


     All right, ye who complain about puzzles being too easy on LS 128,
here's one that will stifle you once and for all.  In fact, even though
I've tested QUADRA from top to bottom, stem to stern, and fo'c'stle to
poopdeck, I have yet to solve a single puzzle!  If you can find a way to
solve these things I sure would like to know about it.

     The object of this puzzle is pretty typical: manipulate the tiles in
the upper left grid so that it matches the pattern of tiles in the lower
right grid.  We've all seen these types of puzzles before.  But this one,
even though its rules are quite simple, gets complex right away.  Maybe
the reason Bob Cook made the program for up to five players is that he's
hoping at least one of the players will figure out a winning method?

     The game starts off with some instructions.  You select the number of
players then enter their names.  Then you select which "level" to play at:
3, 4 or 5.  Do yourself a favor and start on level 3.  Then you are asked
how many minutes per player, 1 - 9.  If you've got the time, answer 9
because I think you'll need all nine minutes.  You can always quit your
turn early (by pressing ESCape) if the frustration level approaches the
critical zone.

     Then you go to the puzzle itself.  A pattern of on/off tiles are
chosen for the "target" grid in the lower-right corner.  You're trying to
flip the tiles in the upper-left grid to match the target grid.  You flip
the tiles by moving a cursor with the CRSR keys, the keypad or a joystick
in Port #2.  Whenever you press RETURN or the FIREBUTTON certain tiles are
toggled, that is, they turn ON if they're OFF and OFF if they're ON.

     So far so good, but the squares that are toggled depend upon (a) the
level you chose at the beginning of the game, and (b) the type of square
the cursor is on.  The square can be a corner square, an edge square, or a
central square.  Look in the bottom right corner to see what type of
pattern you can expect to toggle when you press RETURN.

     The "levels" actually stand for the number of tiles that will be
toggled.  My gut instinct is that three tiles at a time is easier to see
and predict than five.  But who knows?  Maybe level 5 is easier than level
3?

NOTE: I played this a few times before I really understood what was
happening.  The first time you play it just move around toggling things
and soon you'll be able to see ahead of time what is going to happen when
you press RETURN.

     I wish I could tell you what happens when you get your grid to look
exactly like the target grid, but as I said, I haven't solved even one of
these yet.  Let's hope the program doesn't crash!   A game ends when you
want it to, typically after the last player has played.  The program will
take you back to player #1 so you can try another round if you wish.  If
you're playing with multiple players, you should all agree beforehand how
many rounds you're going to play.

     After you solve a puzzle or if you press ESCape to quit before time
has expired, you get a menu where you can press P for the next player's
turn or the round, N to start over with new players or at a different
level, or L to return to LOADSTAR.

     Someone, please let me know what happens when you solve one of the
endless number of puzzles in this program.  It's embarrassing publishing a
puzzle I can't solve.

POSTMUMBLE: I finally solved a puzzle and everything seems to be okay.
I'm afraid I stumbled upon the solution so I still have no hints on how to
solve these things.

FT

                 \\\\\ R - Run    RETURN - Menu \\\\\