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Message |
M. M. Whalen (Mandy_w)
Junior Solitaire Player
Username: Mandy_w
Post Number: 4
Registered: 2-2007
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 11, 2009 - 4:11 am: | |
Just wanted to pass along a Penguin deal -- # 21681 -- that entertained me for several days during which, from time to time, I kept trying to solve it with no success.
This morning, just before posting a message asking whether it was winnable, I decided to give it another try. Lo and behold, I quickly reeled off a solution in a minute or two, with no difficulty at all.
It's fascinating how the unconscious brain seems to keep gnawing away at problems behind the scenes, so that solutions seem to pop up from nowhere, after the conscious brain is ready to give up. (Most of the computer programmers I know agree that often the best way to solve a complex design or debugging problem is to just leave it alone for a while.)
Hope some of you find this deal equally entertaining.
P.S. I'm sorry that by mistake I accidentally posted this message under the "11982" thread, instead of starting a new thread with a title identifying the particular deal. My wish list for improvements to the Goodsol web site would be having an index of all the deals that have been posted on the "Is it winnable" forum. I'd be interested in getting tips on deals like this that ARE winnable, but that may be challenging unless you find the right start.
I know I'm a minority, but the statistics on wins seem like a waste of time, because anybody with a plain-text editor could easily erase any losses and/or add wins to his/her tallies. Even if the tallies were better secured against faking, I'd never post my scores, because I'd be more embarrassed than proud to proclaim to the world how much time I fritter away playing computer games [G].
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Richard Mechen (Richardscotland)
Master Solitaire Player
Username: Richardscotland
Post Number: 2764
Registered: 9-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 11, 2009 - 5:22 am: | |
Hi Mandy, It's often the case that you see a game differently if you abandon it for a while. With Penguin and many other games it is worthwhile just studying the tableau for a minute before you make your initial move. The first move is often critical.
Thanks for posting this game. I did enjoy it, but obviously not for as long as you. Ha! Who cares anyway?
Here's how I did it.
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CarolAnn (Sunlion7)
Junior Solitaire Player
Username: Sunlion7
Post Number: 9
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 11, 2009 - 5:28 am: | |
Hey all,
I was able to open Mandy's attachment (an .unk file) but couldn't open the next one (a .goodsol file). Is there any way to attach these solutions as plain ole word files? :-) |
Richard Mechen (Richardscotland)
Master Solitaire Player
Username: Richardscotland
Post Number: 2765
Registered: 9-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 11, 2009 - 7:43 am: | |
Sorry, Carolann, I played the game in the Goodsol 101 Collection. It saves them differently to the PGS collection. The only way to upload them in "plain ole word files" is if someone wins the game then clicks undo right to the start and then writes down each move by hand. This is both time consuming and tedious. It is far too easy to make mistakes too. You would be far better taking a few minutes to learn how to open these files yourself. It's easy.
I'll add another post underneath this shortly. |
M. M. Whalen (Mandy_w)
Junior Solitaire Player
Username: Mandy_w
Post Number: 5
Registered: 2-2007
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 11, 2009 - 8:01 am: | |
Carol and Richard...
Re providing solutions as "plain ole word files":
If Tom Warfield could E-Mail me a description of the format of the PGS files (and/or the files in the Goodsol 101 Collection), I'll be glad to write a program that will read the solution file and decode it into a plain ASCII text file that shows what the moves are.
I could probably deduce the format by examining several PGS files and doing a bit of reverse engineering, but it would probably be easier/faster to do it with an actual description of the format. (Otoh, the deductive work involved might be just as entertaining as solving the puzzles themselves [G].)
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Richard Mechen (Richardscotland)
Master Solitaire Player
Username: Richardscotland
Post Number: 2766
Registered: 9-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 11, 2009 - 8:31 am: | |
Mandy. Have you any idea just how much work your suggestion would save me in a year?!?!?!
This would be wonderful!
Carolann....see how you get on with these
Please let me know if you can/can't get this to work for you. |
CarolAnn (Sunlion7)
Junior Solitaire Player
Username: Sunlion7
Post Number: 10
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 11, 2009 - 5:02 pm: | |
WOW! The pictures didn't come through on the email itself, but they are here in living color on the forum page. Thanks to all! |
Richard Mechen (Richardscotland)
Master Solitaire Player
Username: Richardscotland
Post Number: 2767
Registered: 9-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 11, 2009 - 5:17 pm: | |
Ah! That email thing! Many of us don't receive them. In fact I'd no knowledge of them until comparatively recently. If you add the "Is It Winnable" page to your Favourites, you can click on it every few days (or more frequently) and see all the posts that have been made. It helps to keep the Forum alive.
Glad you liked the pictures CarolAnn. I'd like if everyone could make use of uploaded solutions. |
Richard Mechen (Richardscotland)
Master Solitaire Player
Username: Richardscotland
Post Number: 2768
Registered: 9-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 11, 2009 - 5:36 pm: | |
To Mandy (G?)
A great many of us also know that the stats are a complete and utter waste of time. Consequently we don't post any either. The exception to this is the stats for the new 101 Collection. These appear to be impossible to doctor. Perhaps people with advanced PC expertise may find a chink in it's armour, but I hope not. Surely they could find more rewarding outlets for such talents. Why not join the 101 club? |
Ken Millar (Tpa_ken)
Master Solitaire Player
Username: Tpa_ken
Post Number: 1008
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 5:20 am: | |
Richard, RE: Monopoly
How do you play Monopoly on line?
Are you a more Park Place type of guy, or Baltic Ave?
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Richard Mechen (Richardscotland)
Master Solitaire Player
Username: Richardscotland
Post Number: 2769
Registered: 9-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 5:45 am: | |
The Monopoly is an installed programme Ken. It was one of those free discs we get with newspapers. It's excellent. I'm more an Old Kent Road and Mayfair kinda guy. (We have different properties from you). Expect an email. |
Thomas Warfield (Support)
Moderator
Username: Support
Post Number: 1270
Registered: 12-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 8:27 am: | |
As to the format of the saved game files:
It's pretty complicated and would be difficult to explain it all. Basically, it is a list of the moves in the game from the starting position (which is determined by the game number).
Each move lists a move type, the card number of the card to moved, the pile number the card is moved from, the pile number it is moved to, plus some other information having to do with animation, undo, etc.
The pile numbers are different in every game. Then there are the multi-card moves, which are more complicated and generate multiple lines in the file.
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Richard Mechen (Richardscotland)
Master Solitaire Player
Username: Richardscotland
Post Number: 2773
Registered: 9-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 8:43 am: | |
Sounds very simple to me! Ha! I'm working on it as we speak.
Pah! I give up. |
Mike Butler (Butler77)
Master Solitaire Player
Username: Butler77
Post Number: 1021
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 12:07 pm: | |
And I thought you could figure it out. Man of patience. Hah!  |
Richard Mechen (Richardscotland)
Master Solitaire Player
Username: Richardscotland
Post Number: 2831
Registered: 9-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 - 2:51 am: | |
The instructions for opening an uploaded solution are on this page Donna. Every time it says "Penguin" just think "Pumpkin".
This is the game you are stuck on........ |
Closed: New threads not accepted on this page
Solution to Penguin 21681