Message #929

From: matthewsheerin <damienturtle@hotmail.co.uk>
Subject: Re: [MC4D] MC7D v0.1
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:51:37 -0000

I’m pretty happy about the twist features too. In MC5D I relied heavily on commutators to make algorithms. I used the macro feature back then for setup moves too: record the setup moves as a macro, perform the necessary algorithm, then run setup macro in reverse. Your feature is then a stroke of genius, as only minimal effort is required to perform commutators and undo setup moves (as an aside, I believe ABinv(A) is called a conjugate). The piece highlight feature is unusual, but it could be a pretty good way to implement piece finding. I won’t know for certain how good it is until I properly use it, but it looks very promising. Personally I would keep the option to hide 1C pieces. I do see your point Anthony, but I always like to have the option.

I found a bug in the macros feature, it seemed to mess up the twist count for me, although that isn’t a huge problem.

A great improvement over the last version, keep it up! :)

Matt

— In 4D_Cubing@yahoogroups.com, Anthony Deschamps <anthony.j.deschamps@…> wrote:
>
> I’ve not yet gotten used to the extra twist features, but I think they will
> prove a very powerful tool. I like the way you handled showing/hiding
> pieces of certain colours. If there’s one thing I could suggest, however,
> it would be to always show the 1C pieces regardless of whether they are
> checked or not. These can be very important in keeping the cube properly
> oriented.
>
> These improvements definitely warrant the progression to v0.1. I think I’m
> ready to make a legitimate attempt at solving it. Great work!
>
> On Tue, Jun 22, 2010 at 3:43 PM, Andrey <andreyastrelin@…> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > Next version of MC7D is here: http://shade.msu.ru/~astr/MC7D/MC7D.zip<http://shade.msu.ru/%7Eastr/MC7D/MC7D.zip>.
> > What is new:
> > 1) You can hide cubies with selected number of visible sides (1C, 2C, …).
> > 2) You can highlight cubies that have colors from some set and have not
> > colors from another set. Under color buttons there are 3-state checkboxes.
> > If some box is checked then the corresponding color must be in the
> > highlighted cubie, and if it’s empty, then the color can’t be in the cubie.
> > To turn this highlighting on and off use checkbox "Highlight by colors".
> > 3) Macros. Ctrl-M starts macro. First you must select the sequence of
> > reference stickers (program continues to ask them while the set is
> > symmetric). Then make some twists, press Ctrl-M again and enter macro name.
> > It will appear in the listbox.
> > To start macro, left-click its name, select "Apply" or "Reverse" command
> > and select sequence of stickers (if it doesn’t match the reference sequence,
> > background becomes red).
> > If you click in the empty space during sticker selection, it cancels macro
> > definition or application. To cancel macro defenition after sticker
> > selection, press Ctrl-M and click "Cancel" button.
> > Macros file can be saved and loaded.
> > 4) Extra twists and commutators.
> > If you make some twists before your favorite twists sequence and want to
> > make them in reverse after that, do the following.
> > - Press F1
> > - Perform preparing twists
> > - Press F2
> > - Perform operation
> > - Press F3. Program will make the inverse of preparing twists sequence.
> > If you make [F1 A F2 B F4] sequence (where A and B are some twists
> > sequences) it will be equivalent to [A B inv(A) inv(B)].
> > Blocks F1..F2 may be nested or delayed. For example,
> > [F1 A F1 B F2 C F1 D F2 E F4 G F3 H F2 K F3] is equivalent to
> > [A B C D E inv(D) inv(E) G inv(B) H K inv(A B C D E inv(D) inv(E) G inv(B)
> > H)] :)
> > If you press F3 when the last block was not closed (i.e. [F1 A F3]) then F1
> > will be canceled. Also if you press F2 when the last block was closed but
> > not applied, you "unblock" it. Last string in the right panel shows current
> > state of the stack of blocks.
> >
> > Good luck!
> > Andrey
> >
> >
> >
>