Message #1331

From: Roice Nelson <roice3@gmail.com>
Subject: Log files in MagicTile and an order-4 Megaminx
Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 19:53:54 -0600

It’s been almost a whole year since I’ve uploaded any changes to MagicTile,
so I wish I could say I’ve addressed a good chunk of the great feedback and
feature requests I received for it. Sadly I haven’t, but I did add
saving/loading of log files this weekend, and thought I’d let the group
know. This will be nice for documenting and sharing solutions, and likely
necessary to solve some of the puzzles with many slices.

www.gravitation3d.com/magictile

I tested it, but not extensively, so please let me know if you see any
troubles.

Also, as one added bonus, I enabled an order-4 Megaminx that behaves like
the Impossible, since the code already supported it. I’m not sure if this
puzzle exists elsewhere in physical or digital form yet. I was told it
didn’t last February, but a lot can happen in a year!

I personally think even-length dodecahedral puzzles are more elegant if done
in a "Big Chop <http://www.shapeways.com/model/65458/big_chop.html>"
fashion, rather than an Impossiball fashion. My reason is simple…in
MagicTile, the former would have no overlapping material during a twist,
while the latter do lead to overlap. However, Big Chop twists are centered
on edges rather than faces, an extension that is not supported yet.

Cheers,
Roice