Sudoku

[belthaczar]

Hello,

I don't know if there are many sudoku players here, but I was hoping I could get some people to test out this app before I release it into the wild. Mostly I would like some feedback about the interface and info on whether or not it runs on 10.3 and/or Intel macs and if there are any bugs.

It's a pretty standard sudoku-playing program, but it also does some cool stuff like provide hints when you get stuck.

You can download it here: Sudoku.dmg.gz (133 KB) (http://www.eecs.tulane.edu/Nguyen.Phillip/Sudoku.dmg.gz)

If there ARE sudoku players here, do you have any suggestions as far as what else should be included? My goal is to eventually have something that is saleable (even if there are already hundreds of sudoku programs for the mac).

--phillip

[skrew]

Seems like a pretty thorough game. Took me a while to complete the easy puzzle, but i suppose I'm a bit out of practice:p.

Feature wise, looks like you have everything pretty down pat. Maybe a counter for boxes filled/boxes left. Another feature, if you want to market this, is to have the ability for larger grids, I'm a big fan of samurai sudoku, which is the inter-connection of 5 grids, kinda reminds me of a shuriken or something hence the name. I've also seen other types with 12x12 grids and others. Also maybe a kids mode, where each of the numbers are colour coded for easier elimination. Or even kidoku grids which are 4x4 4 box grids (using the numbers 1-4.)

But other than that great game, and also this is the only standalone sudoku app that works on 10.3 (which i run atm) without a hitch.

great work!

[spinner]

First, I should say I liked it. It is one of the best Mac Sudoku games I have seen, and as you say, there is a few. I like the way it pencils in stuff especially

Now onto the stuff I noticed:

Hitting space should clear pencil marks

Not sure on control system I normally play with a mouse, so having to hold down control to use pencil marks means I sort of need 3 hands (one for control, one for the keypad and one for the mouse) I would rather be able to toggle between pencil and 'big' rather than have to hold down control.

Instead of a '-', help file reads '&ndash'

I concur with skrew. Even easy is quite difficult compared to some versions. I am out of practice though.

Good job.

Spinner

[belthaczar]

Thanks for the kind feedback! I'll see what I can do about implementing some of the features you both suggested. Kid's mode in particular sounds like a great idea.

I think you're both right about the easy puzzles being a little difficult. I believe it's because the program is biased towards finding singleton candidates which are easy to see if you have auto pencil marks turned on, but not so easy for a human to see otherwise. I'll have to figure out some way to select for puzzles which can be solved by primarily by scanning.

Toggling between pencil marks and big marks is a good idea too. The current setup is a bit awkward, but I haven't seen any mouse interfaces that I really like all that much.

Anyway, thanks again. Now I've got to go write a math test. :mad:

[belthaczar]

OK, I made a few interface updates:

Sudoku.dmg.gz (220 KB) (http://www.eecs.tulane.edu/Nguyen.Phillip/Sudoku.dmg.gz)

* Spacebar clears pencil marks.
* You can press backquote to toggle between entering numbers by default and entering pencil marks by default. Also there is a better visual cue for this now.
* Much more extensive help.
* Added a preference for using a different color for each number (as a precursor to a kid's mode). I'm not sure that I like the border used to distinguish clues. I'm thinking of maybe just displaying clues in a larger font size. Or with poppier shadows?

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/8099/sudokuappwo4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[skyhawk]

you've made my dad a happy camper with this program (and he liked the simpler color (just black on white) as it mimicked this newspaper version he plays

[spinner]

The input for pencil marks has improved a lot in the new version.

Good job.

[skrew]

that screen looks awesome belthaczar. I rekon it would be cooler if the numbers looked more childlike if you want to have a kids mode, kinda puffy like those soft kid's ABC block things. On that note you could also introduce themes and sudoku with symbols instead of numbers. (just randomly brianstorming here :p)

~skrew

[belthaczar]

If anyone is using this, here's a new download, as the previous beta is about to expire.

Sudoku.dmg.gz (240 KB) (http://www.eecs.tulane.edu/Nguyen.Phillip/Sudoku.dmg.gz)

I haven't had a lot of time to work on it lately, so the changes are few.

* fixed a bug with the victory animation.
* fixed a bug with the naked triples/quads hint.
* the Easy-rated puzzles should be a little bit easier in general.
* added toolbar items for starting a new puzzle.

I think I'm probably going to freeze this version where it is and work on integrating all the e-commerce stuff which, since I've never done anything like that before, may turn out to be a big chore.