[next] [prev] [up] Date: Sat, 07 Aug 82 15:01:00 -0700 (PDT)
[next] [prev] [up] From: Stan Isaacs <ISAACS@SRI-KL >
~~~ ~~~ [up] Subject: POLYCUBE (on IBM PC)

I got the POLYCUBE program mentioned in the latest Scientific American
cube article, which has from 1x1x1 up to 7x7x7 cubes on the IBM Personal
Computer. I found it disappointing. It doesn't show the back of the
cube, making solving it VERY difficult. It should also allow user-defined
shorthand, so one could build macros (or simply define better notation).
The notation is good for the general case, but hard for the 3^3 case and
down - it is a general X-Y-Z notation, R or L direction, 1-n layer.
Thus RX1 is our "R"; "ZL1" = U', etc. The colors are pretty. You can
save a cube on disk if you haven't finished solving it, but only one.
Why doesn't someone design and write a general group-theory puzzle
simulation program. Draw any pattern (2 or 3 dimensions) on a screen,
associate it with a matrix, name some permutations in the matrix for
moves, and you should have any conceivable (drawable) rotating axis
puzzle modeled.
-- Stan
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