Tuesday, 10 July 2012

Puzzle #122: Shakashaka

I haven't seen how the Nikoli puzzles of this genre tend to look like, but I expect mine are a bit different. I prefer to keep the amount of clues as low as possible and make the open areas resolve themselves. I figure my puzzles tend to be on the harder side because of that. I like how it turned out. I was planning on doing a 1-2 antisymmetric clue pattern, except the 3 forced itself and I liked how the puzzle went till that point. So this is how it ended up.

Rules for Shakashaka



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10 comments:

  1. Anonymous11 July 2012 at 21:05

    Thanks, it is indeed quite harder than the typical Shakashaka puzzles I encounter from Japanese sources. But I like the last numberless one a bit more, despite its lower difficulty.

    However, (probably just me) I find the diagonals a bit of a turn off. I know of at least one online java solver which allows easy mouse control, and I use a spreadsheet myself to solve the puzzles. I find the solution grids more attractive without those diagonals.

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    1. Para11 July 2012 at 22:20

      That clueless one was a bit silly. Just something I was curious about. I think that one was probably much smoother than this one, as this one relies a lot more on key areas, which aren't as obvious as in the clueless one.

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  2. Anonymous11 July 2012 at 21:16

    Here is a link to the online java solver I talked about (of the puzzle in this page):

    pzv.jp/p.html?shakashaka/10/10/bibzkcpbhdpbzkcic

    The input method is quite instinctive. I'm sure you and most readers here can figure it out easily, without the need to use the "how to input" option from the menu. ;-)

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    1. Para11 July 2012 at 22:18

      These types of applets don't suit my solving style at all for this puzzle type. I have real trouble solving these puzzle if I am only able to mark fully place cells. I like to be able to mark empty space. I accomplish this by circling empty cells or empty grid points. That way I can mark if half a cell will remain empty or not. That's why I like this layout much better, as it allows you to mark empty space much better. I feel marking empty space allows me to judge empty space much better.

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    2. Anonymous12 July 2012 at 06:46

      You can actually mark an empty cell by right clicking your mouse.

      As for marking "half/quarter cells", I've been solving hundreds of these puzzles and never found an overwhelming need to do so, even your challenging puzzle above. I'm sure when you get more experience you won't find it necessary too.

      That applet has another advantage, which is very direct drawing by "dragging the mouse", both for left and right clicking. That allows a player to complete a puzzle very quickly and smoothly. Personally I think this applet is much user friendly than say, Naoko Inaba's ones.

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    3. Para12 July 2012 at 23:16

      I don't think that that'll ever be true for me. Everyone has there own notation systems for different genres and changing them will be very confusing. I might be able to get used to it, if I really wanted to, but I like my notation system. It works for me. The puzzles I solved in competition went smoothly for me, using this system. So no need to change.

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    4. Anonymous13 July 2012 at 08:45

      LOL fair enough. Apologize for too eagerly selling you that applet. :-)

      Would you consider developing your own applet/software/flash using your system (quad cell coloring)? I don't see any straight forward way to make it work on a spreadsheet (Excel of Calc). Of course I can try harder (e.g. dividing each cell into 16 small subcells) but it probably involves too much fine tuning.

      Perhaps the simplest way is to just use Paint etc to edit the image but I will leave it as a last resort.

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    5. Para13 July 2012 at 19:08

      Nah. I can't program and I don't know about spreadsheets. I'm not that much into computers. I just use them to go online, type and play games. And well, also to make my puzzle images, which I just make in Paint.
      I tend to solve puzzles in paint or copy them on paper myself. I'm not much a fan of applet solving. I got used to the ones on puzzlepicnic, so I guess I prefer those.

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    6. Anonymous13 July 2012 at 22:37

      Ah Puzzle Picnic it is. Always forget it. I'm sure you can recommend them to incorporate Shakashaka as a new genre and develop an applet using your system. After all it is one of the more popular Nikoli genres.

      I don't like solving on paper, the ink is too expensive and the paper is not too environmental friendly...

      With ipads and android tablets getting more and more assessible, I think applet/flash is the way to go for online puzzle solving soon...

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  3. Valezius15 September 2012 at 22:38

    It was pretty hard, but very nice, after I could start it.

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