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David Meadows
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A game for engineers

Fantastic Contraption: http://fantasticcontraption.com/



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8/24/2008, 9:09 pm Send Email to David Meadows   Send PM to David Meadows
 
thepinksuicidallemming
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Re: A game for engineers

You just wasted an hour of my life.

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8/25/2008, 5:51 am Send Email to thepinksuicidallemming   Send PM to thepinksuicidallemming
 
David Meadows
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Re: A game for engineers

Only an hour? I've been working on it for an entire weekend. I'm currently stuck on the "Four Balls" puzzle. I'm trying to construct a conveyor belt but I can't make it go up the hill at the end. I might try a trebuchet instead, if I can work out how to make one emoticon



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Reythia
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Re: A game for engineers

I got through #9 before I left for the night yesterday. emoticon

Awesome link, Meadows!

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8/26/2008, 4:48 pm Send Email to Reythia   Send PM to Reythia AIM MSN
 
Reythia
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Re: A game for engineers

*sigh* Now I'm stuck on "big ball". Meadows, you are a BAD influence on me!

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8/26/2008, 9:30 pm Send Email to Reythia   Send PM to Reythia AIM MSN
 
David Meadows
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Re: A game for engineers

I can't quite get the timing to work on my trebuchet emoticon

http://FantasticContraption.com/?designId=913305



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8/26/2008, 9:32 pm Send Email to David Meadows   Send PM to David Meadows
 
Reythia
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Re: A game for engineers

I feel your pain, Meadows! That looks pretty close, though!

I'm completely stumped (for today at least!) on the "big ball" one. I tried sliding the bar under the ball; I tried making it roll up the wall a little bit; I tried getting on top of it and rolling it backwards up the ramp... all to no avail! emoticon

I guess I'll just have to do my WORK, instead!

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8/26/2008, 10:15 pm Send Email to Reythia   Send PM to Reythia AIM MSN
 
tryingtowrite
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Re: A game for engineers

Heh, that's the one I'm stuck on too, Reythia. emoticon

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8/26/2008, 11:23 pm Send Email to tryingtowrite   Send PM to tryingtowrite
 
Reythia
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Re: A game for engineers

I skipped "big ball" and took a look at the one Meadows made a trebuchet for. I decided to go for windmills -- or pinwheels -- myself:

Pinwheels


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8/28/2008, 7:15 pm Send Email to Reythia   Send PM to Reythia AIM MSN
 
Blitzen
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Re: A game for engineers

David, wouldn't an extra arm on the other side work?

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8/28/2008, 7:40 pm Send Email to Blitzen   Send PM to Blitzen
 
David Meadows
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Re: A game for engineers

quote:
Reythia wrote:

I skipped "big ball" and took a look at the one Meadows made a trebuchet for. I decided to go for windmills -- or pinwheels -- myself:

Pinwheels


Brilliant emoticon It didn't look like you were going to get that last one in, though!

I was trying something similar last night but with two wheels -- a small wheel to flip the balls into the arm(s) of my big trebuchet. But I could only manage two balls before the timing got out of step again.

Blitzen, the more arms you add the slower the wheel rotates (it's weight sensitive), so the timing still goes wrong. There must be a sweet spot between number and length of arms and wheel positioning but I'm still not there yet...



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8/28/2008, 8:44 pm Send Email to David Meadows   Send PM to David Meadows
 
Blitzen
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Re: A game for engineers

I did great on the first page. The second page is hard.

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8/28/2008, 8:55 pm Send Email to Blitzen   Send PM to Blitzen
 
tryingtowrite
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Re: A game for engineers

http://FantasticContraption.com/?designId=1015133
Got it jammed under there! emoticon

Last edited by tryingtowrite, 8/28/2008, 11:59 pm


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8/28/2008, 11:58 pm Send Email to tryingtowrite   Send PM to tryingtowrite
 
Blitzen
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Re: A game for engineers

Three out of four.

Bridge


And, finally, four...

Haha I'm a genius emoticon


Now to go back to big ball...

Last edited by Blitzen, 8/29/2008, 12:09 pm


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tryingtowrite
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Re: A game for engineers

Cool machine, Blitzen!

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8/29/2008, 12:46 pm Send Email to tryingtowrite   Send PM to tryingtowrite
 
Loud G
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Re: A game for engineers

This is a very fun little game!

I only was able to do it for about half an hour this morning (and because of it I was late getting to work) emoticon

The site is blocked at work so I'll have to wait til I get home.

I never even thought of a trebuchet! That is awesome! For some reason I had the eronious notion that all the pieces had to connect together....

Back to the drawing board for me emoticon

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8/29/2008, 3:28 pm Send Email to Loud G   Send PM to Loud G AIM Blog
 
Reythia
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Re: A game for engineers

Trying, watching yours was hysterical! I love the "shove it until it gets where I want it to" tactic! emoticon

Blitzen, I thought about a bridge too, but not in the same way as yours. I was going to make a windmill/trebuchet and have the balls land on a bridge. Hopefully they're momentum would have rolled them uphill. But then the idea of multiple windmills took hold and I went for that instead. emoticon

What did the rest of you do for the "big ball" one?

Last edited by Reythia, 8/29/2008, 6:29 pm


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Blitzen
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Re: A game for engineers

I made a lift.

Lift


Last edited by Blitzen, 8/29/2008, 7:44 pm


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David Meadows
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Re: A game for engineers

I used brute force: a kind of dune buggy with a wedge-shaped "roll cage" and enough drive wheels to drive the wedge under the ball.

I wished I had saved all my early successes. I might have to do them all again just to have a record emoticon



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8/30/2008, 12:05 pm Send Email to David Meadows   Send PM to David Meadows
 
David Meadows
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Re: A game for engineers

Trying's solution is fun to watch, and Blitzen's lift is brilliant emoticon



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8/30/2008, 12:08 pm Send Email to David Meadows   Send PM to David Meadows
 
tryingtowrite
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Re: A game for engineers

I love building them like that then watching them flop around. emoticon At first I was trying something like this: Didn't work
Lovely lift, Blitzen! emoticon

Last edited by tryingtowrite, 8/30/2008, 2:56 pm


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Blitzen
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Re: A game for engineers

The lift idea also works on the Awash level.

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8/31/2008, 6:35 pm Send Email to Blitzen   Send PM to Blitzen
 
BaneBlade
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Re: A game for engineers

Reythia's Pinwheels were brilliant!

Here's my solution to the same level: Underhanded


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9/2/2008, 2:09 pm Send Email to BaneBlade   Send PM to BaneBlade
 
Reythia
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Re: A game for engineers

Blitzen and Bane -- those are AWESOME! Very elegant! (And from an engineer, that's a high compliment!)

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9/2/2008, 6:47 pm Send Email to Reythia   Send PM to Reythia AIM MSN
 
BaneBlade
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Re: A game for engineers

Don't worry sister, I work with enough engineers that I know how to complicate a design. emoticon I offer as evidence.

This one which worked: Digger

And these two which...well...not so much:

( I thought I just had to reach the goal...no one told me it had to fit)
Fail

(Hey big squishy tires will get more traction! More surface area. Right?)
Epic Fail


Last edited by BaneBlade, 9/4/2008, 2:09 pm


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Reythia
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Re: A game for engineers

quote:
( I thought I just had to reach the goal...no one told me it had to fit)

Haha! I had the same problem on that puzzle. And I'd made this gorgeous little dune buggy, too. It looked so cute! But... the box was standing the wrong direction at the end. emoticon


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David Meadows
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Re: A game for engineers

Flat tyre was funny. It really should have worked emoticon

You're all way ahead of me now. I spent so long tweaking my trebchet(s) to get through Four Balls that I was sick of the game by the end of it emoticon



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9/5/2008, 7:33 am Send Email to David Meadows   Send PM to David Meadows
 
Reythia
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Re: A game for engineers

Haha! Well, I'll be gone for 1.5 weeks, so you'll have a chance to get ahead of me, at least, Meadows! Use your time productively! emoticon

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9/7/2008, 7:27 pm Send Email to Reythia   Send PM to Reythia AIM MSN
 
QS2
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Re: A game for engineers

Seems like an interesting game, wonder if I should try and catch up... emoticon
9/14/2008, 2:10 pm  
 
David Meadows
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Re: A game for engineers

Go for it, QS emoticon


I spend ages looking blankly at "Down Under", convinced it was impossible. When I finally thought of a solution, it worked first time with no tweaking. I don't why it too me so long when it should have been so obvious:

http://FantasticContraption.com/?designId=1657748

Has anyone found any other way, or are they all some variation on this idea?



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9/14/2008, 9:28 pm Send Email to David Meadows   Send PM to David Meadows
 


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