September 2022 Time Trial - Collection Expert

[M11k4]

R and E and S and U and L and T and maybe even an S!

As we feared and hoped, CCLP5 voting began as this competition was running, so that probably (and rightly) affected the number of participants.

Piccoflute sent in solutions of 102 and 233, taking a total time around 109 seconds of playing time to solve both levels. These were played in Lynx without a map to pre-plan the route. The following path on the second level is worth 18 seconds more without some waits from the actual tws that was played in Tile World.



At the other extreme of how to solve a level, ChosenID put his programs to work and churned out solutions of 115.55 and 271.25, taking 328+856=1184 ticks, or just under 60 seconds. On the first level, the Teeth apparently steal [2] moves from optimal and you'd still score the same. On the second level, ChosenID wondered whether "anyone can find 271 without extensive computation, as it seemed rather difficult even with it".



The third entry to the competition is my own. I was a bit on the fence on whether to include my own submission this time, because I did have the opportunity to edit the levels to fit a solution I had. I tried doing this to get one more second out of the second level, as my best path ended up with an extra key, and maybe Chip could save two moves by not spending time picking it up. I tried things like Chip starting a tile to the right, having him start on plain floor, or changing the pattern how the keys were positioned, and even considered rotating the level so that the teleports would connect differently, but none of these helped get the desired result, so I ended up using the exact same level I had built three years ago. I don't think this ended up giving me an unfair advantage over others, so until others protest, I will accept my own solutions normally.

This gives us a tie for first place, as my solutions were 115.00 and 271.55. Honestly, I was hoping someone would come and find 272 on Polyomino Gardens, as I had three distinct solutions that score 271, one using the boots, one without, and then a mix of both. I spent about two hours in all working on the level. I'm not sure if I thought of it as a pure TSP, as I focused on having the right number of keys and visiting each group of chips without overlapping my previous steps, and these paths just formed together. Overall, I thought the complexity was still manageable to feel like I got somewhere but not to be certain that it can't be improved. If anything, perhaps the number of keys and minimal number of doors to open on a short path matches too well, and maybe picking up all the keys should have come with a higher cost.



Thanks for participating! I don't think I'll be starting a new TT while the voting is running, but when it is over, I might have a couple more levels waiting.

Oh, and below are some of the routes for you to analyze in SuCC. ChosenID also sent in MS solutions of 114 and 276.4 (which uses the teleports!).

Other than that, keep Chipping!

-Miika

[Click to Show Content]

ChosenID, Blast Me to the Heavens, 115 Lynx.
{"Moves":"d---d---r---r---r---d---r---r---l---d---d---r---l---l---l---d---l---l---l---l---u---l---l---l---u---r---r---u---u---u---r---u---u---u---l---u---u---u---l---l---r---r---r---u---r---r---d---d---d---d---r---r---u---r---u---r---r---u---d---d---d---r---d---d---l---l---l---l---l---l-------l---l---l---l---l---l---l---l---l---l---l---","Seed":"0","Step":"ODD2","Rule":"LYNX","Encode":"UTF-8","Initial Slide":"RIGHT"}

Miika, Blast Me to the Heavens, 115 Lynx.
{"Moves":"d---d---u---u-------u---l---l---u---l---u---u---r---u---r---r------r---r---d---r---d---d---r---u---u---r---d---d---d---r---d---d---l---l---l---l---d---d---d---r---d---r---r---d---l---l---l---d---l---l---l---l---u---l---l---l---u---r---r---u---l---l---u---l---u---u---r---r---r---r---r---r-------r---r---r---r---r---r---r---r---r---r---r---","Seed":"0","Step":"ODD2","Rule":"LYNX","Encode":"UTF-8","Initial Slide":"UP"}

ChosenID, Blast Me to the Heavens, 114 MS.
{"Moves":"d-uur-r-u-r-u-u-l-l-l-u-d-d-l-l-l-d-u-u-l-l-d-d-d-l-d-d-r-r-r-r-r-rrr-r-r-r-l-l-l-d-d-d-r-r-d-d-l-l-l-l-l-d-u-u-u-u-l-l-l-d-d-d-l-l-r-d-d-l-l-l-l-u-l-u-l-l-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-l-u-u","Seed":"0","Step":"ODD","Rule":"MS","Encode":"UTF-8","Initial Slide":"UP"}

Miika, Polyomino Gardens, 271 Lynx.
{"Moves":"u---u---u---l---d---l---d---l---d---d---r---d---r---d---r---d---d---r---d---d---r---r---u---u---r---r---u---u---r---r---u---l---u---u---l---l---l---d---d---l---d---l---d---l---u---l---u---l---u---u---r---d---r---d---r---u---r---u---l---l---u---u---r---d---r---u---r---u---l---u---l---l---u---l---l---l---d---l---d---l---d---l---l---l---l---u---l---l---r---u---u---r---r---r---u---r---l---u---l---u---r---r---r---u---u---d---r---r---d---r---r---r---r---r---d---r---r---u---r---r---d---r---r---d---l---d---l---d---d---r---r---r---r---d---l---d---r---d---r---d---l---d---d---d---d---l---d---d---l---l---u---l---l---d---d---d---r---l---d---d---l---l---l---l---l---d---l---u---l---l---u---l---l---l---l---l---u---u---u---l---l---r---r---r---r---r---r---u---u---l---u---u---u---u---l---l---d---l---d---d---l---l---l---u---u---u---l---u---l---l---l---l---","Seed":"0","Step":"EVEN","Rule":"LYNX","Encode":"UTF-8","Initial Slide":"UP"}

ChosenID, Polyomino Gardens, 271 Lynx.
{"Moves":"r---r---u---l---l---l---l---u---r---r---u---u-----r---d---r---r---r-----l---d---l---l---d---r---r---d---r---d---l---d---l---l---d---l---u---l---u---l---l---u---l---l---l---d---l---u---d---d---d-----l---l---u---u---u---u---l---r---u---u---u---r---u---u---d---d---d---r---r---r---r---r---r---u---r---u---u---l---l---l---u---r---l---u---l-----r---u---r---r---u---d---r---r---d---r---r---r---r---r---r---d---r---r---u---d---r---r---r---d---d---l---d---l---d---r---r---r---r-----l---d---r---d---l---l---l---l---l---r---d---r---d---d---r---r---r---d---d---d---l---d---l---l---u---l---d-----u---u---d---l---l---u---l---d---l---l---l---u---l---u---l---d---d---l---r---d---d---d---l---r---u---r---r---r---d---r---d---r---r---r---r---d---r---r---l---d---d---l---l---l---l---l---d-----u---l---d-----u---l---d-----l---l---u---l---u---u---l---l---l---l---l---l---l---","Seed":"0","Step":"EVEN","Rule":"LYNX","Encode":"UTF-8","Initial Slide":"RIGHT"}

ChosenID, Polyomino Gardens, 276 MS.
{"Moves":"d-l-l-d-r-d-r-u-r-d-r-u-r-rdd-dld-d-l-l-u-u-l-l-l-l-d-l-r-u-u-u-l-u-uul-dld-u-u-ull-l-l-d-l-d-l-l-u-r-u-r-u-r-uru-rdl-ddr-rrddd-l-l-d-d-r-u-r-d-r-u-u-r-r-r-d-r-d-d-d-dll-luu-uul-u-l-r-u-u-r-rru-d-d-rdd-r-r-u-r-u-u-l-lul-lurru-u-d-r-r-d-r-r-r-r-r-r-d-r-r-u-d-r-r-r-d-d-l-d-l-d-r-rrdlu-rdr-ddd-d-d-d-l-d-l-ldd-l-d-d-l-l-l-lllur-d--ul-d-l-l-u-l-u-u-l-l-u-u-l-u-u-u-u-u-l-l-l-l-l","Seed":"0","Step":"EVEN","Rule":"MS","Encode":"UTF-8","Initial Slide":"UP"}

September 2022 Time Trial - Collection Expert
1. ChosenID__ 13pts (115+271=386)
1. M11k4____ 13pts (115+271=386)
3. Piccoflute__ 10pts (102+233=335)