Loadstar 221/221.d81/t.logifact

Text File | 2002-01-01 | 6.8 KB | 245 lines

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          L O G I F A C T

 Text and Program by David Moorman


    It began with what might be the
first ever infinite logic problem, a
program called GUMSHOE (LS #111),
where the player/solver asks for
clues, then must decide if the clue
is true or not. Later, I wanted a
more universal program, where various
logic stories could be used. Then,
in corresponding with Jane Ann
Jeffries, a Los Angeles schoolteacher
who uses C-64s in her class, I got
the bright idea that a logic system
could be used as a competitive
learning tool.

    The result is LogiFact.  It's a
game. It's a test. It's a battle of
wits and wisdom!

    THE GAME first asks for the number
of players (1 - 10). Use CRSR
UP/DOWN and RETURN to choose. Then
input each name and confirm by
pressing Y. A list of LF. files is
then presented. These range from
terribly simple to completely
ludicrous (like my mind). Choose
one. The computer takes a moment to
scramble the information.

    The "facts" are listed in three
columns. The goal is to get all the
facts linked to each other and in the
correct order. There are some clues:
When a fact has a "<" and/or ">" at
the side, that means it is connected
to a fact in one of the other columns
that has a "<" or ">" pointing back.
If the three facts are connected and
in the proper position, a "+" appears
on the right border of the right
column.

    THE PLAYER may use the CRSR
UP/DOWN key to choose a fact in a
column and CRSR RIGHT to change
columns. Press RETURN to choose one
of the facts. Then, if the player
desires, the BACK ARROW can be
pressed, which will show the marked
fact's order in relation to the other
facts. Or, the player may choose
another fact in the same column to
swap with the marked fact.

    The strategy of LogiFact is in
choosing which facts to swap. The
links ("<" & ">") to the marked fact
determine which columns will swap
facts. For example:

 March   >  New Year    <St. Pats
 February   Ides         M.L. King
 January    Valentines> <Presidents
 April   > <Fools     > <Taxes     +

    Note that April is connected to
its other facts and in the correct
position. If January was marked and
swapped with March, January would
become connected to New Year.
However, since January is not yet
connected with anything in the other
columns, it would force March to be
unconnected with St. Pats.

    A better strategy would be to mark
Valentines and swap it with Ides.
Valentines will cause Presidents to
swap with M.L. King -- and February
would be completed and in the proper
place. Then mark March and swap with
January. If I am not wrong, that
would complete the puzzle.

    THE SCORE is a running total of
the various clues presented:

 A ">" in the left column is 1 point;
 A "<" in the middle is 2 points;
 A ">" in the middle is 3 points;
 A "<" on the right is 4 points;
 A "+" is 15 points.

    Thus, each puzzle has a total
possible points of 25 times the
number of lines of facts. However,
when the puzzle is first displayed,
the sum is calculated. Then, when
each player takes a turn, whatever
difference that turn causes is added
to the player's score. Moving April
(in the above example) will reduce
the total by 15 points. That is
pretty much a BAD move.

    Requesting information about the
order of the facts gives the player
5 points -- since everyone else will
get to use that information before
he/she does.

    On a single-player game, a mistake
can be even more costly. If the
total goes down, the previous high
sum is kept in memory -- and the
difference is subtracted from the
player's score until he/she creates a
higher total score. And, in the
one-player version, asking for
information about the order costs 5
points.

    [Call it an electronic hickory]
[stick!]

    When each player's turn is
completed, a yellow prompt tells who
is up next. Press a key to start the
turn. When the puzzle is solved, the
yellow prompt says so.  Press a key
to see how the scores added up -- and
the top ten to play this particular
puzzle. When you are done gloating,
press a key.  From the final menu you
can play the same puzzle again, play
a different puzzle, play with
different players, or quit.

    MORE THAN A GAME, LogiFact can be
an exciting learning tool, or even the
framework for your own logic
problems. LogiFact puzzle files are
just SEQuential text files that
ANYONE can write. Use Edstar II,
Loadstar's favorite little text
editor to create your puzzle.

    The first line is the name of the
puzzle (that will be displayed at the
top of the screen above the columns).
On each line after that, list the
three connected facts, separated by a
\ [ENGLISH POUND]. Be sure to list
the facts in the order you want.  For
example, here is how the puzzle shown
above would look:

 Months & Holidays
 January\New Years\M.L. King
 February\Valentines\Presidents
 March\Ides\St. Pats
 April\Fools\Taxes

    Easy! If you want to include an
introduction (or a reading for
comprehension text), type INTRO on
the very next line. Then on the
following lines, type in the text of
your introduction. You will see
intros on some of the examples here.

    BTW -- LogiFact expects puzzle
files to be on the same drive as the
program and does some prestadigital-
ization with the high scores. The
best way to use LogiFact is to copy
it to a new disk that has plenty of
room for puzzles. And, I'd bet Fender
would be interested in real
hair-pullers! ;-)

 DMM


 [FENDER'S POSTMUMBLE:] Whenever we
publish programs that allow users to
create levels or puzzles, there's
always the possibility of our
publishing them on a later issue.
Usually levels are small files, so
it's not as though they would take up
valuable disk space.

 I made up one of the puzzles on this
disk ("lf.sidekicks") and it was just
as easy as Dave describes. The
editing of the file was a breeze with
EDSTAR II, so it was just a matter of
sitting back and thinking about my
favorite fictional detectives, and
then remembering their authors' and
sidekicks' names. Any topic that can
be divided into three columns is fair
game for LogiFact.

 Since the player only gets a [+] if
the LEFT column is in the order that
the puzzle maker had in mind, I
recommend putting the LEFT column in
alphabetical (or some other relevant)
order. Some of Dave's puzzles, like
Holidaze and Presidents, have a
built-in order for the LEFT column,
but others, like MathLogic, require
that the player guess the order. I
added a hint to the intro text for
MathLogic to help out.

 So Dave is right; if you send me a
disk with some clever puzzles for
LogiFact, I'll collect them and we'll
have another LogiFact Jamboree on a
later issue. Rest assured that you
will receive a LOADSTAR reward for
your cleverness and thought.

 FT


[DAVE -- OLDER AND WISER]: I have
forgotten LogiFact. And everything we
said above still holds. LogiFact
puzzles are not hard to compose, and
can be on any subject. Give it a try!

 DMM