Wednesday, June 27, 2012

SpaceChem Walkthrough Alkonost - Prelude to a Migraine

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SpaceChem Walkthrough Alkonost - Prelude to a Migraine

SpaceChem Walkthrough Alkonost - An Introduction to Sensing

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This level starts off the Alkonost planet as well as introduces a new command for the waldos.

This new feature allows a branch off of the path if a predefined element crosses over it. 

Again I went for best time over fewer symbols. Also I'll note once more that these are the best times I can find and not necessarily the best possible times.

Originally I did this using only the red and then came back and added the blue track as well. I tried for over an hour to get the two in sync without actually using a sync but finally had to give in and place a sync symbol.

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SpaceChem Walkthrough Alkonost - An Introduction to Sensing

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

SpaceChem Walkthrough Danopth - A Most Unfortunate Malfunction

This level doesn't show statistics so I guess the goal is simply to save the day.

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SpaceChem Walkthrough Danopth - A Most Unfortunate Malfunction

SpaceChem Walkthrough Danopth - In-Place Swap

imageAnother chance at a challenge. This time you get it simply for beating the level.

Rather than going for fewest cycles on this one I went with two reactors. I still focused on as few cycles as possible.

 

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SpaceChem Walkthrough Danopth - In-Place Swap

Monday, June 4, 2012

East Coast Gaming Conference 2012 - Review

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www.ecgconf.com

My son wants to make games when he grows up. Since I work for a reseller of Autodesk software, I have hooked him up with 3ds Max and Mudbox. I also gave him the curriculum from Autodesk's student website. students.autodesk.com However it always seems more fun to play the games than actually work at learning the software used in creating them. With his grades slowing dropping as the school year progressed, I decided to try to find something that would spark some interest and push him into actually spending some time with Max and focusing on school work again.

My first thought was to take him through a college that offers some game design majors. While poking around on the web I happened across ECGC's website about a month before the event date. Registration was $105 per person. It sounded a lot like Autodesk University which is a blast. Several days of lectures given by professionals in the industry to others in, or looking to get into, the industry. The exhibit hall was always a major highlight as well. Having given lectures at Autodesk University for several years now I thought it would be exciting to be on the receiving side of something like that.

The first thing I needed to check was if there was an age limit. I clicked the Contact Us link and asked if there was an age limit and if this was something that would be appropriate for an 8th grader. I really didn't expect a response other than something automated. Surprise surprise! Not only did I get a response, it came in form of a phone call. I had a 15 minute call with Troy Knight. He listened to everything I was concerned about then offered some advice on what classes we should attend. I also learned that he works with Tim Castle, an old co-worker of mine who used to work in our Raleigh office.

That settled it, we were going. I requested some vacation time, cleared it with my son's school, and booked a hotel. I also talked my buddy Larry into going as well. Not that it took a lot of talking....... ok, so that clears up why two guys and a older kid are at a conference for professionals.
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We decided we would say our titles were "End Users" if asked what we do. Click the link to read the rest.