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Opus Magnum - Zachtronics latest. Coming to Steam 10/19

I've only finished the tutorial + 3 levels, but I am really pleased with the game so far. The game is really slick, and I am already able to more or less able to just type instructions using the keyboard, which makes playing around with solutions a really pleasant experience. The hexagonal layout and "fixed" movers make for some interesting challenges when you try to optimize your solution.

The only issues I can see is that the tutorial was not entirely clear on some basic points (things are not immediately obvious due to the ornate interface), that I haven't figured out how to speed up "play-back", and that the size performance-measure seems very tightly correlated with the space performance-measure (this may change with additional components). It turns out space also counts the space that you "cover" when moving molecules around, which makes it much more complicated.

I am also surprised that there is no instruction performance measure. There are some fun ways to setup your machine so that it naturally loops into itself, thereby reducing the number of instructions needed, but there is no high-score table for this.

One really cool thing is that the game allows you to export a gif of your solution at the click of a button (final tutorial level):
X4NnqMP.gif
 

Falk

that puzzling face
I nearly started an OT for this but making an OT just to say I was having a rather mediocre time seemed like it'd be counterproductive. :(

idk, the game hasn't really grabbed me and I feel like I might as well be playing Infinifactory and having one additional dimension of shenanigans.

I'll at least get through the main campaign and see if anything grabs me.

edit: i lied

 

Blizzard

Banned
Since I don't want to highlight the spoiler GIFs, has anyone found a level where the engine background changes ala Spacechem levels, or does it always look the same while running?
 

Blizzard

Banned
I bought it despite my concerns about the background. I guess I can whine and ask for different alchemical engine skins since it's technically early access, if it never changes. :p

I need Steam friends who play it to compare records! Quote for Steam profile link if you're interested.


My stabilized water solution used minimal area and cost, but was slow on cycles.
opusmagnum-stabilizeddykza.gif
 

Blizzard

Banned
I'm missing the SpaceChem features of reusing (partial?) solutions from previous puzzles, and also the ability to fast forward (or are there secret hotkeys?).

It would also be nice if you could use the "repeat instructions" thing to repeat a limited number of instructions. It's not like it saves you anything since you can manually enter a huge string of instructions, it's just a time savings for entering it.

I assume there's no secret way to mirror an element?

I've been going super hard for minimal cost and/or area. I'm assuming you sometimes cannot minimize both simultaneously, since it took me a while to figure this minimal area out, but I had to increase the cost slightly.

Waterproof Sealant:
opusmagnum-waterprooflkjdq.gif
 

Blizzard

Banned
It's apparently possible to do 10 hexes on Airship Fuel which is absolutely insane. I just spent like 30 minutes doing 11 and that's STILL not good enough to be best. >:|

*edit* Got 10. It was a massive pain but I finally realized something I'd forgotten and now I have joined the best!
 

ultron87

Member
I've been having a little trouble figuring out exactly how all the instruction looping works. Getting everything to sync up has been a bit of a challenge. That said the first few puzzles were quite fun. I really love seeing everyone's different solutions to these. Here's my Waterproof Sealant:

https://i.imgur.com/lH2c7eO.gif
 

Aeana

Member
I find I'm better at the programming-oriented Zachtronics games than these. This seems more Spacechem-like, which bends my brain a bit.

My waterproof sealant is crap. Gotta do better:

 

Blizzard

Banned
Sigmar's Garden rules question: What does it mean by "three continuous open spaces"?

I see marbles with 3+ adjacent open hexes that I can select, but I can't select a marble with 4 adjacent open hexes. I also see marbles on the edge of the board with 2 adjacent open hexes that I CAN select for some reason. *edit* Hexes off the edge of the board count as open.

Also, what does it mean when a number turns red for a cardinal element? *edit* I think this means it's an odd number.
 
I find I'm better at the programming-oriented Zachtronics games than these. This seems more Spacechem-like, which bends my brain a bit.

My waterproof sealant is crap. Gotta do better:

I tend to be the opposite, I'm better at spacechem and Infinifactory and this reminds me of those two. Programming reminds me too much of university!

Good to see the game keeps the eternal struggle between cost and speed!



I usually start with slow cheap solutions and then iterate to silly complex ones.

And Gifs, glorious gifs!
 
I find I'm better at the programming-oriented Zachtronics games than these. This seems more Spacechem-like, which bends my brain a bit.

Same, I think. Doesn't feel like I've really grasped the nuances and eccentricities of the parts and movements yet. It does somehow feel more relaxing/less stressful than Shenzhen or TIS though.

Here's my last Waterproof Sealant for everyone's comparison:
 

Falk

that puzzling face
Sigmar's Garden rules question: What does it mean by "three continuous open spaces"?

I see marbles with 3+ adjacent open hexes that I can select, but I can't select a marble with 4 adjacent open hexes. I also see marbles on the edge of the board with 2 adjacent open hexes that I CAN select for some reason. *edit* Hexes off the edge of the board count as open.

Also, what does it mean when a number turns red for a cardinal element? *edit* I think this means it's an odd number.

- The metals can only be cleared in ascending order. This is also key to solving more consistently because you want to expose the early metals first. If you haven't cleared the first metal, 2nd onwards will not be selectable even if they're otherwise valid.

- Odd numbers are red, yes. This is because there are four salts and an even number of each of the four elements, meaning you'd have to use pairs of salts on the same element, or you'll end up with odd ones out that cannot be cleared. Or alternatively, do so well that you accidentally clear all the elements but have 2 salt leftover (FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF)

that aside, Very Dark Thread send help
 

Blizzard

Banned
SPOILER for chapter 2 flare mission near the end: I broke almost every chart, my solution was so bad. No sane person would solve it this way, but once I had the idea of doing it, I had to see it through just for the style.

opusmagnum-surrenderfehjbn.gif
 

Primate_Ryan

Neo Member
That's the beauty of this game: seeing your own solutions in motion, no matter how inefficient they are. You don't need to adapt to the developer's thinking, there is not one straight path to the end. Even more so in Opus Magnum than in Spacechem, which had some (severe) limitations in terms of space for your solutions.

My own solution for the flare puzzle currently looks like this:

surrender flare


Way more pedestrian than yours.
 

mclem

Member
On the one hand, yay for this thread, because I hadn't heard a new title was on the way.

On the other... I still haven't played Shenzhen I/O yet.

Ucchedavāda;252202280 said:
I am also going to take a moment to shill for Silicon Zeroes, which is another great programming'ish puzzle game that came out not too long ago. Highly recommended, but unfortunately I haven't seen it getting a lot of attention.

From the folks behind Manufactoria? Sold.
 

Deft Beck

Member
I wasn't able to get very far in Spacechem but it's admirable that he is continuing to make these intricate games.
 

Falk

that puzzling face
There's probably far more elegant ways to do this but I believe it's the minimum cycles barring undocumented features of some sort, since reagents can only spit out every 2 cycles.

Purified Gold
Mist of Hallucination

edit: I stand corrected, the maths behind completion time would be (<number of TU per cycle> * <number of cycles>) + <number of TU to get to Product>, with that last part still being refine-able.
 

Khoryos

Member
SPOILER for chapter 2 flare mission near the end: I broke almost every chart, my solution was so bad. No sane person would solve it this way, but once I had the idea of doing it, I had to see it through just for the style.

opusmagnum-surrenderfehjbn.gif

I love that so much, that's about the coolest thing I've seen in one of these games,
 

thekeats

Neo Member
I think i may have to buy this based on the gifs alone. Mesmerising.

Not played any of tbe Zachtronics games. Is this a good one to start on?
 

Blizzard

Banned
I think i may have to buy this based on the gifs alone. Mesmerising.

Not played any of tbe Zachtronics games. Is this a good one to start on?
I would suggest trying the Spacechem demo, which is free on Steam. This game reminds me of that a lot.
 

Primate_Ryan

Neo Member
I think i may have to buy this based on the gifs alone. Mesmerising.

Not played any of tbe Zachtronics games. Is this a good one to start on?

I think it is, but as Blizzard mentioned Spacechem has a demo, this one doesn't (yet).

I personally feel it's the most accessible game yet from this dev.
 

kami_sama

Member
Damn you Blizzard beating all my scores!

I am the only one that is loving the solitaire game? I could play it for hours!
 

Saganator

Member
I think i may have to buy this based on the gifs alone. Mesmerising.

Not played any of tbe Zachtronics games. Is this a good one to start on?

Don't sleep on Infinifactory, it's very accessible. The first few puzzles are really easy to show you the ropes. After you figure out a couple of the more complex ones, you feel like a fuckin genius.
 

Falk

that puzzling face
I'm pretty sure every puzzle is generated to be solvable.

It seems to be built from the center outwards, meaning you'll never get into a situation where a silver is blocking a bronze with no other way to get to it, for example.

edit:
P9cwP6z.png


kOS4Yy5.png
kOS4Yy5.png

kOS4Yy5.png
kOS4Yy5.png
 

kami_sama

Member
I'm pretty sure every puzzle is generated to be solvable.

It seems to be built from the center outwards, meaning you'll never get into a situation where a silver is blocking a bronze with no other way to get to it, for example.

Oh didn't know that.
Is every windows solitaire game solvable? I was comparing it to that.
Btw, I still don't know the reason some marbles are blocked and others aren't. I think they said it at the start, but I forgot it lol
 
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