Tutorial Contest Entry 4

= JUDGES' SCORES =

See the forum-announcement post for a description of the judging categories.

The averaged scores of the judges for this entry were: Clarity: 8.83 Comprehensiveness: 8.83 Contribution: 7.83 Illustrations: 8.50 Presentation: 9.17 Research: 9.17

The final score is a sum of these scores, with "internal" categories (clarity, comprehensiveness, illustrations, presentation) counting 2x as much as "external" categories (contribution, research). Maximum score is 100. The final score for this tutorial is: 87.67

= Introduction = Bilging requires a different philosophy than the other duty puzzles. If ye develop the proper mindset, tis an easy and relaxing puzzle.

The key point to good bilging is efficiency, not speed. This is crucial to good bilging. If ye use too many moves to make a Bingo or Sea Donkey, ye could still get Poor on the duty report. Here be tips to use to consistently score Good or higher on Bilging.

= Terminology =
 * Chain : when one clear triggers another clear, which may trigger a third, etc.
 * Clear : three in a row or larger, or combo.
 * Combo : two or more clears with a single move.
 * Crabs : cannot be moved, but scuttle off when they get above the water
 * Jellyfish : clears all of a single color from the board
 * Puffer fish : clears a 3x3 square off the board, with the puffer fish in the center

= General Tips =
 * 1) When possible, get into the puzzle at the start of a league instead of in the middle.  O course when ye be jobbing, ye don't laze until the league point - but if ye take a navy mission to work on yer stats, wait.
 * 2) Stay in the puzzle as long as possible.  Getting out and back in again really hurts.
 * 3) Don't pause to talk unless yer bilge pump is yellow.
 * 4) Ye have ten seconds to make a clear, so take yer time.
 * 5) Save yer jellyfish and puffer fish until ye don't see even a one-move 3-in-a-row.  When ye use a jellyfish, match it with a color that ye have a lot of.
 * 6) When water is low, freeing a crab is worth very little.  When water is high, freeing a crab is worth a lot, and freeing two at once is a huge bonus.  See Crab Soup section below.
 * 7) Keep an eye on the color of yer bilge pump.  If it stays aqua the full league, ye will get Good on the duty report.  If it stays yellow the full league, ye will get Incredible. If it drops to brown, ye get Poor or even Booched.  To increase the color, use fewer moves to make yer combos, or make more complicated combos with the same number of moves.

= Mellow Bilging =

Start scanning the puzzle from the top looking fer a one-move clear or combo. As soon as ye spot one, use it. Take several seconds if ye need them. Work from the top as much as ye can, so that ye get chains. Constant one-move 3-in-a-rows with no chaining is not good enough to keep yer bilge pump aqua, but if ye make them near the top then ye will get the chains.

If ye can't find a one-move clear or combo, then use a jelly fish (first choice) or puffer fish if ye have one. If there aren't any of those, then look fer a 2 move clear near the top - but make something afore yer ten seconds is up.

= Zen Bilging =

This video shows one league of Zen Bilging, using just a few two-move small combos (no Bingos or larger) that scored Incredible on the duty report. Most of the time Zen Bilging will get ye Excellent instead of Incredible. Please note that the pirate in the video was at the 7 star level of bilging, but full Legendary on Midnight.

= Power Bilging = Look over the full board, looking fer the largest one or two move combo ye can make. Two-move combos are a bit harder to spot (which is where the brain sweat comes in). If yer pump is sparkly and ye don't see any one or two move combo, then ye can either do a clear with chain or start setting up a Bingo. If ye will need more than two moves, then make a clear below yer setup after the first move or two, so that yer pump stays yellow.

= Crab Soup Bilging = When the bilge is low and there's no carp damage, then any of the above types of bilging will keep it dry. When carp damage is 50%, then unless ye be doing Incredible bilging the water will rise. Here's what ye do when ye have to bilge underwater.

Ye still want to look fer one or two move combos over the full board - but they will be pretty scarce when the crabs start accumulating. When there's a crab near the waterline, then make a clear (even if ye have to take two or three moves just for a 3-in-a-row) that opens a spot right above the crab. Releasing a crab when the water is high is worth quite a bit, and if ye can manage two at once that's even better. Getting rid of crabs also makes it easier to make combos.

If ye get a jellyfish, then use it on a color that will release a crab or two.

= One-move Clears = Tis important to learn to spot the one-move clears. After ye be familiar with them, ye will find that ye can spot the two-move clears more easily. These are listed with highest scoring first. This list is not meant to be exhaustive, and does not use in-game images because tis the pattern that is important.

Vegas
http://www.frontiernet.net/~zenbilging/vegas.PNG

Sea Donkey
http://www.frontiernet.net/~zenbilging/seadonkey.PNG

Bingo
http://www.frontiernet.net/~zenbilging/bingo.PNG

4xN, 5xN
http://www.frontiernet.net/~zenbilging/4xN.png

3x5
http://www.frontiernet.net/~zenbilging/3x5.png

3x4
http://www.frontiernet.net/~zenbilging/3x4.png

3x3
http://www.frontiernet.net/~zenbilging/3x3.png

5-in-a-row
http://www.frontiernet.net/~zenbilging/5-in-row.png

4-in-a-row
http://www.frontiernet.net/~zenbilging/4-in-row.png

3-in-a-row
http://www.frontiernet.net/~zenbilging/3-in-row.png

= Example Setups =

To setup a multi-move Bingo, first find a row that has 3 of the same color on it. Now look on the rows above and below to see if tis possible to make a vertical 3-in-a-row with the same color as yer row's horizontal 3-in-a-row. Lastly, ye need a second color that can also make a vertical 3-in-a-row.

= Bad Boards = What do ye do when there isn't any clear ye can spot, and ye be out of jellyfish and puffer fish? Well, one solution is to ask somebody on carp or sails to swap stations with ye (because getting out of puzzle to do a different duty isn't penalized, but getting out and back in the same puzzle is). Another solution is to use one of the following, preferably near the top of yer puzzle. The general idea is to mix up the pieces on the board as much as possible, so that ye will have a combo after this multi-move clear.

Vertical Clear
= Links =
 * Main YPPedia article on Bilging
 * Commonly discussed ideas from Game Design
 * Official game documents
 * Uni's bilging tips (Light version)
 * Uni's bilging examples (Many pictures version)
 * More Bilging tips
 * Bilging combos
 * Sart's bilging video
 * Gothmog's bilging tips

''In-game images and videos used above were taken from Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates,'' copyright Three Rings Design, Inc. Images were composited by the author of this tutorial for use on this page. This tutorial was created as an entry in the Ultimate Guru event.