pi^2.dat's "the end of all time"

[CamdenT]

How does the level "the end of all time" from pi^2.dat work? I get that it takes some insanely long amount of time to solve, but how was the level designed to work in this way? It looks very complex and i can't seem to figure it out.

[quiznos00]

It's in pi.dat, by the way, and pieguy himself explains it quite nicely in the comments section of the pi.dat page:

this level is theoretically possible, but will take over 3.14*(10^20) years to complete. this happens because a glider reaches (30,27) only when all 10 clone buttons are simultaneously pressed, which happens every 97*101*103*107*109*113*127*128*131*133*135*137*139 = 968333183920508936927967360 steps, since those are the lengths of the paths of the fireballs, and they share no common factors. the 53rd glider to reach (30,27) will trigger the clone machine at (1,0) 66 steps after it is cloned. the first glider to reach (30,27) is cloned after 1 step, and it will take chip 2 steps to reach the exit after the clone machine is triggered, for a total of 1+52(968333183920508936927967360)+66+2 = 50353325563866464720254302789 steps. there are 5 steps in a second, 86400 seconds in a day, and 365.24 days in a year, for a total of 3.19*(10^20) years.

[BitBuster]

So here's a question; what's the theoretically longest possible CC level? Assume that the player makes a good faith effort to solve the level (i.e. doesn't just stand in the same place for an infinitely long period of time), and assume that luck doesn't play a factor (like waiting for a blob to navigate a maze and hit a button or defuse a bomb).

Does "the end of all time" pretty much do the most you can given the grid size and game elements?

[geodave]

I don't know how to calculate that, but I wouldn't doubt pieguy.

[mathgrant]

I don't know about Chip's Challenge, but I know that once I got a hold of the "boss template" in WarioWare DIY (which triggers a hidden setting that turns off the time limit in a microgame), I created a microgame where you win by waiting 311 minutes (on the slowest speed), and lose by tapping the stage. Essentially, a block travels slowly across the stage, and every time it completes a lap, a series of bits is incremented by 1. I soon figured out theoretical changes I could make to the microgame (since each object can have 4 pieces of artwork, I could make the digits base 4 instead of base 2, making the length longer than the expected lifetime of a DS). pieguy's technique of having things loop cycles of different lengths and waiting for them to coincide might be particularly useful for making a "the end of all time" microgame.

(Theoretically, it's possible to make a boss microgame in which nothing can possibly trigger a winning condition or a losing condition, which is almost certainly why Nintendo didn't make this functionality available to the public.)

[James]

It's in pi.dat, by the way, and pieguy himself explains it quite nicely in the comments section of the pi.dat page:

There's another one in pi^2 involving ice blocks.

[M11k4]

There's another one in pi^2 involving ice blocks.

Yes, don't confuse "the end of all time" with "end of all time". Much like you shouldn't confuse "Avalanche" with the original "avalanche".

Haven't checked out how pi^2.dat #16 should work, but it does seem to be lacking a clear pi-signature.

[CamdenT]

Yes, i do mean the one with the ice blocks. And yes, it is "end of all time," not "the end of all time." My mistake.

[IceyLava108]

the end of all time is and isn't possible - it is, in a way: but I doubt that a computer would last over 314 billion eons!

[AdrenalinDragon]

I was tempted to leave my Windows 98 laptop on for 3 years to solve it back in 2005, but it caused a fire so I decided not too.