AR2 A 293 XmasTree (ends 28/12/2013 @ 20h00GMT)

[bythelee]

Welcome to the 293rd AR2 A contest: XmasTree

'Tis the season......
Whatever you want to call it, this time of year typically means some sort of decoration around the house.

And, you know what happens when you let the kids decorate the Xmas Tree?
Yeah, the baubles....errrrr....dillos get hung in all the wrong places.

All 7 dillos need to reach a portal.
The coloured dillos (non-yellow) must use a coloured (non-blue) portal.
Those who cheat by sending them to the blue portal will receive a lump of coal.

The yellow dillo can use any portal, BUT if you manage to turn him into the Star at the top of the tree (ie get him to the blue portal) there is a BONUS PRESENT of $500.
And, for that reward, you can get him there with a rocket and still make a profit.

Because, some prices have been changed.....
Especially the stretchy, springy stuff. And tension. And timers. And rockets.

Good luck, and Have Fun. Enjoy!
(Oh, and six days because folk might find it difficult to find the time.....and hopefully this will fit with New Year too, for the next challenge)


(I do apologise for the sparse, straggly looking tree.
I'm no artist, and feel a little embarassed at how miserable it looks.
Even the presents underneath don't help that much.
But I suspect it might be in much worse shape once you lot are done with it! )



AR2 Version 2.1.3 Beta is used, make sure you use the correct version.

If you download this level please submit your solution even if you think it's not good. You help us keep the forum alive and we might be able to help you become a better player.

Some Prices ARE changed.

Submissions by PM.

Naming convention [DollarsRemaining]-[YourForumName]-[SolutionName]

GMT Time link: http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/

[mark_man]

This is defiantly a challenge

[bythelee]

Yeah, it's not an "easy" one.

And perhaps also true that "optimising" will be difficult.

I discovered plenty of tricks and options while POC building, so I hope it will produce plenty of contraptions.


At some risk of being spoilers, but hoping to make life easier for those giving it a go:

- Don't forget those changed prices.

- I think Grey is by far the hardest, so plan that first.

The POC has a mixture of brute force and elegance, and used every single component available, too.

[ioncorpse]

Insane, I would say.

[bythelee]

Insane, I would say.

Was that just grey, or the whole challenge?


I was thinking this was a good time to do something different. Rather than the theoretical minimum calculation, it seemed a good way to make things a bit less serious. Cheap materials gives a chance to do stuff most usual challenges prohibit.

I spent an hour building the POC. It isn't a 5 minute problem, sure, but that was the point.
The POC assembled in neat stages, with little interference, handling pairs of dillos at a time.
When some small interference did come up, it was easily taken care of by tuning what was already built.

Perhaps the first impression is more daunting (ie insane) than it actually is.
Thinking through where each dillo will go, and when, makes it easier to get a full solution. But take extra care with grey, 'cos he's special.

It's beginning to sound like 1st place might go to the "most" dillos home....

One final spoiler: (highlight to reveal)
The coloured dillos must use a portal that matches their colour. But I did not say that every dillo had to go to a different portal.....

[mark_man]

What I will need to do here is get it working expensive first then cut back on materials

[Arunion]

That looks a lot like how I draw my trees

Nicely festive challenge with an extra level of difficulty. Will have to try my best ^^

[mark_man]

Happy xmass to all that apply

[Arunion]

Merry happy and christmas new year ^^
And every other holiday celebrated by someone at this time of year ^^

[Arunion]

Well now I have a messy solution, but at least I completed it ^^ 555+

[mark_man]

I'm still stuck

[Arunion]

It's a difficult one. But I went with a very expensive solution and had to tweak that for a while to get it to go right ^^

[bythelee]

Less than one day left to go, and while I'm relieved there seems to be one person that has managed it, I am sad that there has been so little interest.

The cheap stretchy stuff was supposed to let you guys have a blast, flinging dillos all over the place.
It was never meant to be a "theoretical optimum" type of challenge.

The POC spent over $1000, but with the $500 bonus for getting yellow to the top, the final score is over $4000.
And, it took me maybe two hours to complete. The spoilers pretty much give away everything I did to make it work.

The big question now seems to be whether Mark_man will find the inspiration, or if Arunion will win by default.....

Good luck, guys.

[mark_man]

Well as you know it is late here and I do have a entry not any ware as high as yours but here we go 3000+ I have given it just under 3 hours tonight