The Fantastic Contraption

Dimrill · **Posted:** Fri Jul 25, 2008 16:50

Just got this from the b3ta newsletter. Cripes it's addictive.
http://fantasticcontraption.com/

AceAceBaby · **Posted:** Fri Jul 25, 2008 17:01

Some friends in SL were playing this last night. It's a bit much for my noggin.

Zardoz · **Posted:** Fri Jul 25, 2008 17:01

Excellent find!

vegetables · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 354

I'm really terrible at this; I usually get through the levels by building something that's ridiculously bodged that scrapes through as all the wheels run together. I was chuffed in the Mission to Mars level where I actually built something slightly clever.

LaceSensor · **Joined:** 2nd Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 3137

Not as good as Armadillo Run, but still cool

MrD · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 2139

I can't do Big Ball (12)

Dr Lave · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 5979

This is great! Cheers Dimrill.

MrD · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 2139

I did Big Ball eventually.

My solution to Back and Forth is GEEENYOUS.

ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!

The main machine swings around the brown triangle over and over again. By the third time it gives the ball a good welly. The other thing is a platformotron that waddles off and plugs the gap on the right.

Grim... · **Posted:** Sun Jul 27, 2008 9:13

Aw bugger, this was going to be next Thursday's game

Dudley · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 8679

MrD wrote:

I can't do Big Ball (12)

That's where I'm stuck too. I love how the first one can be solved with precisely 0 parts and the 2nd with just 1, when (for the 2nd) I built this hugely elaborate thing to crab over the gap. In awe of the mechanical bridges some people have constructed for it too

Bobbyaro · **Joined:** 18th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 11843

This too, is where I am stuck. I have tried everything, from polevaults to tanks! Great game!

Curiosity · **Posted:** Sun Jul 27, 2008 13:08

This is the kind of game I really suck at.

Well, this and driving games.

Mr Dave · **Posted:** Sun Jul 27, 2008 13:10

I'm finding just looking at other peoples methods to be enormous amounts of fun. Some of them are ridiculously good.

Joans · **Joined:** 31st Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 8648

Big Ball - The brute force method

Basically the top level carries the pink bit over the top of the ball and then pushes it away from the wall.

Edit - Thinking about this, some people might not want to see it. Can I spoiler an attachment, or am I going to have to upload it somewhere?

Dudley · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 8679

Joans wrote:

Big Ball - The brute force method

Basically the top level carries the pink bit over the top of the ball and then pushes it away from the wall.

Edit - Thinking about this, some people might not want to see it. Can I spoiler an attachment, or am I going to have to upload it somewhere?

You're going to need to upload. I think I get the vague gist but I couldn't really work out how to do it.

Joans · **Joined:** 31st Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 8648

Ok, let's try this then.

Big Ball:

ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!

Dudley · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 8679

Oh that's excellent. Having built a quick copy I can see how that's supposed to work.

That said, there's no way I'm doing most of the levels afterwards

kalmar · **Posted:** Sun Jul 27, 2008 13:52

Here's how I did Big Ball:

ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!

http://FantasticContraption.com/?designId=96966

The reversing wheels on the front lift the blocking ball out of the way and then it crawls in underneath.

Dudley · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 8679

Just tried that one, that's excellent

Bobbyaro · **Joined:** 18th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 11843

kalmar wrote:

Here's how I did Big Ball:

ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!

http://FantasticContraption.com/?designId=96966

The reversing wheels on the front lift the blocking ball out of the way and then it crawls in underneath.

That is brilliant!

Curiosity · **Posted:** Sun Jul 27, 2008 17:30

Oh, I've finally gotten the hang of this. Doing 'Full-Up' was lots of fun.

tossrStu · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 1326

I'm not sure which level this is for, but... wow.

http://fantasticcontraption.com/?designId=31720

KevR · **Posted:** Sun Jul 27, 2008 17:41

tossrStu wrote:

I'm not sure which level this is for, but... wow.

http://fantasticcontraption.com/?designId=31720

Impressive!

kalmar · **Posted:** Sun Jul 27, 2008 18:03

tossrStu wrote:

I'm not sure which level this is for, but... wow.

http://fantasticcontraption.com/?designId=31720

Hahah that's hilarious.
Some of the solutions are a bit..

But people have figured out how to make really clever stuff - ropes and pulleys, conveyors and all sorts.
It kind of sorts out the engineers from the scientists as well - most of my solutions are brute force "get the job done" approach, usually some type of crawler. But one or two of them you have no other alternative but to come up with a neat physics type solution, I've been saving quite a few

Joans · **Joined:** 31st Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 8648

If I can't put together some sort of tank that slowly trundles along the screen then I'm usually stumped. Some of them I don't even know where to begin.

MrD · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 2139

I did BB like Kalmar did, except nowhere near as neat. I had lots more driving circles and lots more 'pushing the ball out the way' anti circles.

Mr Russell · **Joined:** 6th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 12243

I really enjoyed Awash, where all the balls trundle down the hill towards you. Solved that by having a grif od water rod triangles like a girder. It crawled it's way up the hill, and then there was a load of anticlockwise wheels on top to skim all the balls over the top and back off the cliff.

I cannot do the one called handling(?) where you have to flip the block under a small gap, and then stand it back up straight again.

MrD · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 2139

My 'awash'

ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!

flipped the ball over the entire mess with a powerful flipper.

My 'handling'

ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!

was a cool drag racer type thing (starting off balanced on its nose) which topples over when the machine starts, moves to the right, then uses a large block on its back to hook onto the wall and turn itself anticlockwise.

Mr Russell · **Joined:** 6th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 12243

I like your handling idea. I'd been trying something similar, but not with the starting position.

Derek The Halls · **Joined:** 31st Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 3742

I can't get past the first level.

Pundabaya · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 5016

Handling: http://FantasticContraption.com/?designId=102507

Malabelm · **Posted:** Sun Jul 27, 2008 23:20

This game is ace, but I'm rubbish.

I'm quite proud of my hangman-mobile though. What's better than a hanging corpse to personally deliver your parcel?

http://FantasticContraption.com/?designId=102727

Bobbyaro · **Joined:** 18th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 11843

nynfortoo wrote:

This game is ace, but I'm rubbish.

I'm quite proud of my hangman-mobile though. What's better than a hanging corpse to personally deliver your parcel?

http://FantasticContraption.com/?designId=102727

Mine really suck!

Dudley · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 8679

nynfortoo wrote:

This game is ace, but I'm rubbish.

I'm quite proud of my hangman-mobile though. What's better than a hanging corpse to personally deliver your parcel?

http://FantasticContraption.com/?designId=102727

Glorious.

The Handling solution of Pundy's is very neat too. I'm loving how there's a complete mix of the neat and the batshit insane to solve the same problem.

Curiosity · **Posted:** Mon Jul 28, 2008 10:15

How the f**k do you do 'The Tube'?

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49232

Curiosity wrote:

How the f**k do you do 'The Tube'?

I would like to know this.

MrD · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 2139

The tube

ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!

is done usually by making an extending contraption that locks itself to the side walls of the tube and then rolls up the inside. By linking together opposing wheels directly they can be made to spring outwards and jam. Make a caret shaped object and watch it rise.

If that doesn't work, notice there's a slight sticking out area on the right hand lower side of the tube. If you make a strut extending fully horizontal from that, you can build from this to make a solid base.

Grim... · **Posted:** Mon Jul 28, 2008 10:25

Craster wrote:

Curiosity wrote:

How the f**k do you do 'The Tube'?

I would like to know this.

Oyster Card.

MrD · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 2139

Sonic Screwdriver, surely?

MrD · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 2139

Tube

ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!

Notice that brown rods connected to circles don't collide against the circles, allowing you to have brown rods crossing over them slightly. This allows the brown rods to extend beyond the reach of the circles slightly, turning them into cams. Add and jam extra motors for extra power. Stop the thing from rocking from side to side with a frame, and the cams should push and make the machine rise up the stack.

http://FantasticContraption.com/?designId=107785

kalmar · **Posted:** Mon Jul 28, 2008 10:50

MrD wrote:

The tube

ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!

is done usually by making an extending contraption that locks itself to the side walls of the tube and then rolls up the inside. By linking together opposing wheels directly they can be made to spring outwards and jam. Make a caret shaped object and watch it rise.

If that doesn't work, notice there's a slight sticking out area on the right hand lower side of the tube. If you make a strut extending fully horizontal from that, you can build from this to make a solid base.

ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!

That sounds like exactly how I did it too. Just two wheels with a wood joiner between them, and an angled "jammer" at the bottom to give it a good start. One of the simpler and more elegant ones really

Malc · **Posted:** Mon Jul 28, 2008 10:54

I tried various things like that (including putting stuff on the wheels) but no luck yet.

Malc

MrD · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 2139

If you're mega jammy, you can get away with this: http://FantasticContraption.com/?designId=106099.

The Rev Owen · **Posted:** Mon Jul 28, 2008 11:19

I seem to be solving all the ones so far like this -

http://fantasticcontraption.com/?designId=107947

Dudley · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 8679

I'm watching my co worker spending the last 2 hours trying to solve that exact level by knocking the ball off.

Not going well.

Mr Russell · **Joined:** 6th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 12243

Dudley wrote:

I'm watching my co worker spending the last 2 hours trying to solve that exact level by knocking the ball off.

Not going well.

I did it by knocking the ball off...

Curiosity · **Posted:** Mon Jul 28, 2008 11:51

kalmar wrote:

MrD wrote:

The tube

ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!

is done usually by making an extending contraption that locks itself to the side walls of the tube and then rolls up the inside. By linking together opposing wheels directly they can be made to spring outwards and jam. Make a caret shaped object and watch it rise.

If that doesn't work, notice there's a slight sticking out area on the right hand lower side of the tube. If you make a strut extending fully horizontal from that, you can build from this to make a solid base.

ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!

That sounds like exactly how I did it too. Just two wheels with a wood joiner between them, and an angled "jammer" at the bottom to give it a good start. One of the simpler and more elegant ones really

I tried that for about half an hour, but could get precisely zero traction on the wall, even if I filled the entire area with nothing but balls and brown rods, no traction at all.

I'm spazzing up somewhere, clearly. Will try again tonight, perhaps (or rid my mind of this stupid yet excellent game).

kalmar · **Posted:** Mon Jul 28, 2008 11:52

Curiosity wrote:

kalmar wrote:

MrD wrote:

The tube

ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!

is done usually by making an extending contraption that locks itself to the side walls of the tube and then rolls up the inside. By linking together opposing wheels directly they can be made to spring outwards and jam. Make a caret shaped object and watch it rise.

If that doesn't work, notice there's a slight sticking out area on the right hand lower side of the tube. If you make a strut extending fully horizontal from that, you can build from this to make a solid base.

ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!

That sounds like exactly how I did it too. Just two wheels with a wood joiner between them, and an angled "jammer" at the bottom to give it a good start. One of the simpler and more elegant ones really

I tried that for about half an hour, but could get precisely zero traction on the wall, even if I filled the entire area with nothing but balls and brown rods, no traction at all.

I'm spazzing up somewhere, clearly. Will try again tonight, perhaps (or rid my mind of this stupid yet excellent game).

I'll post my solution later then in case it helps. I'm determined not to open that site *at all* at work, for obvious reasons.

MrD · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 2139

Dudley wrote:

I'm watching my co worker spending the last 2 hours trying to solve that exact level by knocking the ball off.

Not going well.

You mean they spent two hours trying to do this? http://FantasticContraption.com/?designId=108195

The Rev Owen · **Posted:** Mon Jul 28, 2008 13:15

Took me ages, but I finally did Big Ball.

http://FantasticContraption.com/?designId=108850

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