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An entry in Fortnightly Topic Challenge #33: Surface Geometry Mazes

Instructions

Puzzle

Ankoganit
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paramesis
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    Whoever VTC 'unclear what you are asking' - its perfectly clear. The instructions are given, you just have to read them – Beastly Gerbil Jul 04 '17 at 17:02
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    To be fair, I don't really get it either, but a comment would have been sufficient. I personally would appreciate a clearly explained standalone step-by-step mini example. – feelinferrety Jul 04 '17 at 18:27
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    White just means that the level is unknown, correct? Some of the white tiles could be level 0. Also, is the level threshold +2 to -1 or is it possible that there are levels above or below that in this puzzle? – LeppyR64 Jul 04 '17 at 20:21
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    @BeastlyGerbil, if you think it's perfectly clear then please supplement the instructions with an unambiguous textual explanation. – Peter Taylor Jul 04 '17 at 20:53
  • Is O and X common or is it just from TGE's haisu? – boboquack Jul 04 '17 at 22:14
  • I think I get the rules. The puzzle still seems very difficult! – TheGreatEscaper Jul 04 '17 at 23:36
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    @PeterTaylor instructionless/instruction-lite puzzles are actually quite popular. In the case of this puzzle, I don't think anything would be lost with clearer instructions, but I think it's clear enough as is. – TheGreatEscaper Jul 04 '17 at 23:39
  • Drats! Ran into a contradiction with the 4 and the 5. And it was all going so well, too :( – TheGreatEscaper Jul 05 '17 at 00:55
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    Looks like a great puzzle, but I've gotta agree with others above that the rules are pretty difficult to parse (though not to the point of "unclear what you are asking" IMO). Am I right in my interpretation, that you must turn on every circle (thus implying that circles on edges must be on changes in slope)? And further, that said turn must be exactly one turn (so you can't have a double slope change on a circle?) Also, it's not explicit, but I assume a 90° turn through a quadrilateral is "1 turn" and that you can't "cross over" a wormhole, and must teleport through it? – Alconja Jul 05 '17 at 03:20
  • @Alconja you are correct about everything except that a crest or valley CAN contain a circle, on edge, which counts as one of the two turns. – paramesis Jul 05 '17 at 03:27
  • @paramesis "Which counts as one of the two turns" - meaning the other turn can count as a turn either before or after the circle (at the solver's discretion)? – Alconja Jul 05 '17 at 03:33
  • @Alconja correct, so long as the circles mark every fourth turn. – paramesis Jul 05 '17 at 03:36
  • @PeterTaylor I'm not going to edit paramesis' post to do that, but you can ask him to do it. Or you can ask me to explain what I think we have to do in the instructions – Beastly Gerbil Jul 05 '17 at 06:21
  • @paramesis Can you please answer my question above? Thanks in advance. – LeppyR64 Jul 05 '17 at 09:57
  • @LeppyR64 you are correct, white tiles are at an undefined height and slope, which could be 0, and levels span from -1 to +2 – paramesis Jul 05 '17 at 10:08
  • @edderiofer Yes, there are exactly two wormholes per level – paramesis Jul 07 '17 at 16:05
  • I think staring at this in 2D isn't cutting it, time for a print out! I can get so far but then I keep forgetting which position everything was in. – BreakingMyself Jul 11 '17 at 13:54
  • Exiting a sloped cell to a flat one count as 1 turn. Exiting a sloped cell into another sloped cell in the same ring counts as 0 turns. Exiting a sloped cell to a differently sloped cell in another ring counts as 2 turns (i.e. crossing a ridge or a valley). But, if you exit a sloped cell and enter another similarly sloped cell in an outer or inner ring (i.e. going uphill or downhill) counts as 0, 1 or 2 turns? – Victor Stafusa - BozoNaCadeia Jul 15 '17 at 18:43
  • @VictorStafusa That would count as 0 turns. – paramesis Jul 15 '17 at 18:46
  • Am I able to circle an entire triangleless flat ring without counting any turn? – Victor Stafusa - BozoNaCadeia Jul 15 '17 at 20:02
  • @VictorStafusa Yes. Going around a ring of trapezoids is equivalent to going in a straight line. However, if you circled the ENTIRE ring, you would have an isolated loop, so the path has to turn at some point. – paramesis Jul 15 '17 at 20:42

1 Answers1

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That was a fun maze!

Answer:

solved maze
I have colored the upward slopes red and the downward slopes green.

It would take too long to go through every step but it was possible to complete it without guessing. Here are some steps along the way:



user39583
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