September 2022 Time Trial - Collection Expert

[M11k4]

I don't know how soon CCLP5 voting starts, but let's see if we can squeeze in a competition (or two?) before it does. (Which also partly explains why I'm starting this competition in the middle of the month.)

  CCZ-TT-2209.ccl (Size: 2.75 KB / Downloads: 165)

Here are two levels for you to optimize. I've been saving these levels for a bit now, and am excited to see what you think of them and what you do with them.

• Blast Me to the Heavens is a quick Teeth dodging, chip collecting level, with the twist of having to (getting to?) blow up all the Teeth before you finish.
  
• Polyomino Gardens is the next entry in the polyomino series, which generally has you figure out an efficient route in an otherwise non-challenging level. *
  

This time the primary rule set to use in LYNX. We haven't had one of those in a while, though the difference to MS on these levels is not that great. (Do feel free to send in your MS solutions as well.)
Send in your TWS file or even just the solution from SuCC to me at my email: valeosote at hotmail dot com. (Not on Discord this time, as I've found it to be a bit of a hassle for me at this end because I mainly use that on my phone.) The deadline for submissions is October 9th where you live, which gives you four weekends. (I may start the next TT before that, so you might as well take a look at these now and earn your Early Bird bonus if you submit at least something before September 25th.)

If you have any questions regarding the competition, those I can answer on Discord most simply on the competitions channel for everyone's benefit.

 Get to it!  

-Miika

*) There is a third level in the set, which is basically the second level again. You may submit your solution to it instead of #2, but really it was just a remnant from design when I was still not sure if the MS boosting in the level would prove annoying to route.

[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)