Fantastic Contraption
My old roommate, Rich, sent me this website. He has a Master's in Physics and another one in Engineering Science and knew I would like it. I can't really explain it, so you will just have to visit. Basically you build mechanical contraptions to move an object to a certain spot.
http://www.fantasticcontraption.com
It starts out easy, of course. Then it gets harder and harder and the contraptions required get more and more complicated. I started out by always building a little car that would take the object wherever it needed to go. Once you finish a level you can save it or you can look at other people's solutions. If you buy the program, then you can rate people's solutions. There are thousands of solutions, but the really good ones are the 4 and 5 star solutions. The 5-star solutions are just amazing. There are catapults, chains, spear throwers, cranes, lifts, and so on. Some solutions just stumble along, some are just beautiful. Mine are usually cars.
Try the game out first. The tutorial is pretty short and you can do the first few levels in a few minutes each. After you check things out, you can look at some of the ones I did, with links below. Feel free to share your own designs too.
This one is a typical example of one of my designs, for Up the Hump:
This one is a little more elegant, with the nice touch of leaving the object in the target zone permanently, for Around the Bend:
This is an amazing solution (by someone else) to the level Mission to Mars:
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Comments (10)
I opened Ted's email at 10 pm last night and played up to level 19 until 3:28 a.m. It was addictive. I do not recommend looking at the solutions Ted included until you have done the levels yourself. More fun to figure it out before looking at how others did it. zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Posted by Jeb | November 19, 2008 1:39 PM
I can't stop playing ... this is awful, I am neglecting work, family, eating. Just got by "4 balls" and I definitely don't want to look at Ted's solutions yet - seems like cheating.
Posted by Grant | November 19, 2008 8:12 PM
Here's one I'm proud of:
http://FantasticContraption.com/?designId=4339734
Posted by Grant | November 19, 2008 8:25 PM
I am stuck on that level right now, so I can't look at how yours works yet. You and Jeb are doing really well on this.
Posted by UT | November 19, 2008 9:21 PM
Time consumption warning: Beware "AWASH"!!!!
Posted by Grant | November 19, 2008 9:46 PM
I got through Down Under and Awash wasn't too bad once I figured out a good approach. Handling wasn't terrible. I'm stuck on Tube now. I can get some upward motion, but then everything falls apart.
Posted by UT | November 19, 2008 10:49 PM
Tip on tube: There's a little notch at the bottom. What could fit in that notch? Finished 20 and 21 last night. All done until I pay. I kind of want to go back and clean up my old solutions.
Posted by Jeb | November 20, 2008 3:47 PM
I had not noticed the notch, but I didn't end up needing it: Tube
Be careful on paying the $10. Rich did that and it gets you a whole bunch of new levels to play (more time down the drain).
Posted by UT | November 20, 2008 8:09 PM
Okay, I'm done:
Unpossible
Back and Forth
U Turn
Posted by UT | November 20, 2008 10:13 PM
Just finished. I thought U Turn was pretty simple. I never did get Tube. Great game!!
Posted by Grant | November 21, 2008 6:03 PM