Here is another programming game, this one with a nice GUI: http://tomorrowcorporation.com/humanresourcemachine
from the same company!
TIS-100 – Tessellated Intelligence System
71–80 of 85 posts
Re: TIS-100 – Tessellated Intelligence System
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
Grade or middle school, really. "Clever highschoolers" are writing their own bare-metal OSes these days.
> "Clever highschoolers" are writing their own bare-metal OSes these days. Perhaps you are even right since advanced Arduino programming (which many "Clever highschoolers" should be able to do) is in some sense like writing a really simple RTOS. :-)
Or, well, there are the highschoolers who are actually writing OSes - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10045254 :P
Re: TIS-100 – Tessellated Intelligence System
#73Re: TIS-100 – Tessellated Intelligence System
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am not sure how you can say these games "don't have a whole lot to do with programming". They are programming. Maybe you didn't ever have the experience of programming on an 8-bit CPU and don't get the joke? The machines in these games are comically limited, "this is like the cruftiness of an 8-bit CPU but even worse". The funny thing about TIS-100 is that it's a speculative fiction game, postulating an alternate r…
I think pmoriarty's point is that, while they are programming games, the programming is abstracted and obfuscated into puzzles in a way that puts it a good distance from how practical programming is done these days. You have to admit that the type of accumulator-based CPU architecture used in these games is archaic and only found in the smallest microcontrollers today. And the multi-core structure and other constrain…
That's nonsense. You are tasked with breaking down the solutions to complicated problems, and getting them to work within the constraints of a limited toolset. Sure, the constraints are a bit whimsical, but if breaking down complex problems (complexity is relative to the capabilities you have) and getting them to to fit your abstraction isn't programming, I don't know what is.
Re: TIS-100 – Tessellated Intelligence System
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
> As far as programming puzzle games go, Zachtronic basically has the market cornered. I wouldn't say that: There is at least - Human Resource Machine and if you look a little bit more around (programming games that are not programming puzzle games in the purest sense) there is - Else Heart.Break() - Glitchspace - Hack 'n' Slash There also seem to be (I don't know this game, but it seems plausible to me that they fit…
It's true, but all of those games are... well... Zachtronics doesn't pull any punches. Their games are amazing. Even the deceptively simple Infinifactory is actually full of amazing and beautiful opportunities for elegant programming concepts (the first time you realize, "I can... I can make a clock with controllably variable periodicity!? What?" And TIS-100 resembles programming in a stripped down Erlang-like mode.…
The model of TIS-100 is more like the blocking channels in Go.
Re: TIS-100 – Tessellated Intelligence System
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or the Connection Machine, where the individual processors were arranged in a hypercube.
Similar architectures could exist, but the exact one the TIS used? Not in a million years, unless somebody was explictly doing it to recreate the game IRL.
Ok, sure. It's only similar to architectures which have existed. I doubt there have been any serious ones which limited you to a dozen instructions at a time :)
There's nothing in the TIS-100 architecture that is unique or unheard of, just things that are left out of it.
Re: TIS-100 – Tessellated Intelligence System
#77For really good non-programming puzzle games, I'd recommend Snakebird[0] and Stephen's Sausage Roll[1]. Try out Snakebird first, it's cheaper and works great on mobile devices. Don't let the cute art fool you, it's a monstrous game. If you get through most of Snakebird and still don't hate yourself, look into SSR. It's much more hardcore, but has some mind blowing puzzles. As far as programming puzzle games go, Zacht…
> As far as programming puzzle games go, Zachtronic basically has the market cornered. I wouldn't say that: There is at least - Human Resource Machine and if you look a little bit more around (programming games that are not programming puzzle games in the purest sense) there is - Else Heart.Break() - Glitchspace - Hack 'n' Slash There also seem to be (I don't know this game, but it seems plausible to me that they fit…
A good friend of mine is totally into hackmud: https://www.hackmud.com
It looked neat but I have the same problem as with music games like Guitar Hero etc - I'd rather continue programming on one of my many pet projects or practice playing actual guitar...
I may be missing out though - I wouldn't know because I actually never invested more than 30 minutes in any of those games (also bought TIS-100 last year, never actually played it once).
Incidentally - are there any music games (rhythm, composition, etc) that are similarly "hardcore" as a TIS-100 that anyone would recommend?
I finally might be giving TIS-100 another shot as it is Sunday and all :)
Re: TIS-100 – Tessellated Intelligence System
#78One of my all time favorite programming puzzle games is Box-256, which I haven't seen mentioned.
Re: TIS-100 – Tessellated Intelligence System
#79For really good non-programming puzzle games, I'd recommend Snakebird[0] and Stephen's Sausage Roll[1]. Try out Snakebird first, it's cheaper and works great on mobile devices. Don't let the cute art fool you, it's a monstrous game. If you get through most of Snakebird and still don't hate yourself, look into SSR. It's much more hardcore, but has some mind blowing puzzles. As far as programming puzzle games go, Zacht…
snakebird is tough!
Re: TIS-100 – Tessellated Intelligence System
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's true, but all of those games are... well... Zachtronics doesn't pull any punches. Their games are amazing. Even the deceptively simple Infinifactory is actually full of amazing and beautiful opportunities for elegant programming concepts (the first time you realize, "I can... I can make a clock with controllably variable periodicity!? What?" And TIS-100 resembles programming in a stripped down Erlang-like mode.…
The model of TIS-100 is more like the blocking channels in Go.
Nah, it's really not! I think the author even mentioned the actor model in an interview about it. And Go certainly has never desired to be associated as "the actor model." It lacks many of the tools required.