GCPP:Proposal-Mackerel

{{Grand Crafting Puzzle Project round 2


 * codename = Mackerel
 * username = Tcarr


 * puzzle coded = yes
 * puzzle gameid = 90


 * extra contact = on Midnight as Lordkalvan, otherwhen@frontiernet.net


 * quickstart=GCPP-Mackerel-Quickstart.png
 * quickstarttext=Click a spool, then drop it on the loom to weave that thread. Try to make perfect rows, and try to match the pattern displayed.  Click the pattern then the matching rows to remove them.  Scissors can also remove rows from the loom.  Click + or - to change the size of the loom.


 * game concept = Build lengths of cloth from available threads, wasting as little as possible, under no time pressure. Variation of Pickerel


 * objective = Make consecutive perfect rows, match patterns shown.


 * gameplay = When game starts, 12 threads of various lengths in three different colors are generated for the spool tray. As spools are used, new random spools are generated, as long as the game is in play (so there are always 12 spools in the tray except during the "overtime" period at the end).

The player may choose any of at least three possible loom widths available for the current difficulty level. See difficulty scaling for more information on loom widths.

Choose a color to weave, and place any thread from your tray in that color onto the bottom of the loom. The first thread will start on the left edge of the bottom row, and use one inch for a knot to start. Add threads until the row is finished. Attempt to choose threads that will exactly fill the row. For example, if the loom is 7 inches wide, and you first place a thread that is 5 inches long, you will want to look for a thread 4 inches long (one inch of overlap for the knot).

If more than one inch is dangling off the side, the thread wraps to the next row. There is no penalty for wrapping, but one inch is used.

Perfect rows give a bonus. Consecutive perfect rows give even nicer bonuses.

If you want to change colors, the best way is to finish a perfect row. At this point, you may start a different color on the loom without breaking your combo-chain. If you have one inch dangling, you may start a different color with no penalty, but the combo-chain breaks. In any other case, all thread on the current (incomplete) row is wasted, with a penalty, and the combo-chain breaks.

You may place a maximum of 10 rows on the loom at any given time. If you place a spool on the loom that finishes the 10th row and has thread left, all the leftover thread is wasted, with a penalty.

At any time during the game, you may click the scissors then click a completed row on the loom. This will remove the row clicked and all completed rows above it for a few points. Any incomplete row is also removed, with a penalty. Using the scissors resets your combo-counter.

There is always a target pattern in the upper left corner. Form the pattern on the loom, click the target, then hover over the area of the loom that has that pattern and click to remove the matching rows. Matching the correct alternation of colors using the wrong colors gives a "Zebra" bonus. Matching the colors as well as the alternation pattern scores twice as many points. At this point, the target pattern will disappear, and a new one will be generated randomly.

Beads have a chance of appearing any time that a perfect row is made or a target pattern is matched and removed. At most three beads can fit in the bead tray. One type of bead ("Any") lets you splice two threads of the same color (but color is not specified) without using any overlap. A second type of bead "Specific": one of the three colors) lets you splice two threads of a specified color without using any overlap.

A third and very rare type of bead ("Wild") lets you splice two threads of different colors, with the resulting new spool the color of the second spool spliced.

Splicing spools: A player can choose to use a bead to combine two spools of thread. Click a bead, then click the first spool, then the second spool. The lengths of thread are added, and one spool with the combined lengths appears in the spool tray, with a random spool replacing the other spool. There is no bonus or penalty for doing this. The bead disappears after being used once. This is the only way beads are used in Mackerel.

Changing loom size: At any time during the game, a player may choose to change the size of the loom to another of the set allowed for the current difficulty level. The same spools will be in the tray, but any thread on the loom will be lost, with a penalty. The player should use the scissors to remove any completed rows before resizing the loom. The player has a choice of loom widths determined by the difficulty level.


 * storyboard=

Story with Screenshots, Level 2
Cantra has played Mackerel before on level 1, but this is her first game on difficulty level 2. Cantra has gotten pretty good at making consecutive perfect rows and using the beads to splice, but doesn't always spot the best moves to make.

Cantra continues playing, occasionally changing the loom width, and sometimes being forced to waste a few inches of thread. Each time a row is removed from the loom, she gets another star partially filled on the side. After taking a Zebra, the new pattern is a Zebra match for the remaining rows on the loom, but Cantra knows if she takes it immediately the game would end. She decides to fill as much of the loom as possible. Only ten rows fit on the loom - anything extra is wasted. Oh nice - a Tapestry!

Taking the Tapestry fills the last star completely, and all the spools vanish. The new target pattern doesn't match the rows on the loom, so Cantra uses the scissors to remove the rows, and the game ends. Incredible!

Videos
Videos are available of games on level 1 and level 2.

Perfect row bonus = (current loom size) * (number of consecutive perfect rows + difficulty level)
 * scoring =

Scissors score for single row = (width of current loom)

Penalty for incomplete row = 2 * (inches removed)

Target pattern score = (current loom size) * ((number of rows in pattern) + (difficulty level)^2) * (2 if matches color, 1 if not)


 * variability = Spools are generated in random colors and lengths. Beads are randomly generated, and do not always appear for every perfect row.

Each time a perfect row is completed, if there is room in the bead tray, a single bead might being generated. The probability is a function of the number of consecutive perfect rows. The type of bead is chosen next, with 25% chance of ANY, 10% chance of WILD, and the various possible specific color beads evenly distributed among the other 65%.


 * end criteria = When the target number of full rows of cloth have been removed from the loom, all the spools in the tray vanish. The player continues cutting patterns or using the scissors until the loom is empty.  When the loom empties, the game is over.  Progress is measured by the filled stars on the left; when the last star fills, the spools in the tray vanish.

Target number of rows = 20 + (difficulty * 4)
 * difficulty scaling =

Number of stars = 5 + difficulty

Level 1:
 * Widths 4, 5, 6
 * Only pattern is "solid" of four rows: AAAA.

Level 2:
 * Widths 4, 5, 6
 * Each target pattern has exactly two stripes and four rows, and is chosen randomly from those possible: AAAB, AABB, ABBB.

Level 3:
 * Widths 4, 5, 6, 7
 * Each target pattern has exactly three stripes using two colors and six rows, and is chosen randomly from those possible: AAAABA, AAABBA, etc.

Level 4:
 * Widths 4, 5, 6, 7
 * Each target pattern has exactly four stripes, using two colors and six rows.


 * crafting type = Weaving


 * known problems =


 * notes = Yes, this is very similar to Pickerel.

Probability of a bead appearing from a given perfect row:

n = (# Perfect rows) + (loom width - 4)

if n < 5, probability = 1/(6 - n)

else probability = (n - 3)/(n - 2)

Assuming a bead is generated, it has a 10% chance of being Wild, 25% chance of "Any", and the remainder of the time the different specific colors used on that level have equal chance.
 * images =


 * discussion = Discussion

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