http://www.input-entertainment.de/laser/laser.html

I can't get past level 23. There are a total of 25 levels. Anyone got a solution to 23?

Note: I had trouble getting this one to work in Netscape or Flash4, it works in IE with Flash5, though.

Wow... that is some cool little puzzle game you found there... I'll try to see how far I can get...

haha, that's funny, i've been playing that on and off for a week. I've now been stuck at level 17 for a few hours. Good stuff!

What was the password to 17 again? I'll try to work out the solution again.

dma.

Just tell me where the splitter goes and i'll stop driving myself nuts with it! This is the only one that's stumped me and i know i'm gonna wanna smack myself after i get it.

Here is a screen shot of level 17 just before the placement of the final piece.

*me shoots self*
That's exactly where i had the splitter and double mirror. It was the redirection on the right side that threw me. I had it stuck in my head that i couldn't recover the laser after it passed through that bulb on the right. SOB. Thanks!

Level 23 has a problem like that, except on 23 it really is a dead-end so you have to make sure it's the last bulb. The problem is having enough mirrors and benders to get through all the other bulbs. I always end up short at least one mirror or bender. Wait until you get there, you'll see what I mean.

I just spent about an hour durring lunch and got through the first 16 levels... Pretty cool stuff! This is one of the coolest online puzzles I've seen.

Damn... I wish I hadn't just seen the answer to 17... Oh well.

Okay, I think this game has caused many lost production hours here at work. I sent it to a bunch of friends and we're all playing it.

Yeah, I should have warned everyone about that.

I can't get past level 23. There are a total of 25 levels. Anyone got a solution to 23?

HINT: go through the center bulb 3 times.

The password for level 25 is firewire

Tom

To counter the lost productivity of my cubemates, here is the shockwave puzzle game we were all playing last month:

http://www.bigidea.com/penguins/kids/k_spacedpenguin.htm

Man...you all really suck. I'm never going to get any work done now.

HINT: go through the center bulb 3 times.

IMPRESSIVE. I had considered this as an option, and even went to the trouble of doing a test-case to make sure that three passes on a bulb would light it. I just couldn't see a way this would help me. Guess I'll have to try again.

The password for level 25 is firewire

As far as the passwords go, I'm not concerned with those any more. I figured out the files that needed to be downloaded in order to run the program locally, and the password file is in clear text. So now I can get to any level I want by typing it in (I edited the file so that the password for level 24 is "24" for example). I still want to win each of the levels though.

What's particularly interesting about this is that not only are the passwords in clear text, each level is in clear text as well. So if we wanted to, we could extend this game by reverse-engineering the level format and creating our own levels.

If you want to download all of the game data yourself, grab the following files from the program directory off of their web server:

laser.swf
config.txt
level1.txt
level2.txt
(...)
level25.txt

Then put them all in the same folder and associate ".swf" files with Internet Explorer.

So who's up for challenging each other with new levels?

As far as the passwords go, I'm not concerned with those any more.

I figured you wouldn't be interested in the password to cheat; however you can use the password firewire to jump to any level quickly. After entering it, just click the minus button to increment down to the level you want, then click go. No text editing needed. No need to remember each password for every level.

I figured out the files that needed to be downloaded in order to run the program locally….

Can you tell me how you figured out the other filenames? That’s something I tried to do a long time ago for another project, and could never figure out.

Tom

IMPRESSIVE. I had considered this as an option, and even went to the trouble of doing a test-case to make sure that three passes on a bulb would light it. I just couldn't see a way this would help me. Guess I'll have to try again.

Here's a screenshot of the solution for level 23 in case the hint wasn't enough. (I had to go back and figure it out again)

Tom

Okay, I think this game has caused many lost production hours here at work

One of the companies I do work for had to block traffic to the site... They're in the laser business

/Michael

Can you tell me how you figured out the other filenames? That’s something I tried to do a long time ago for another project, and could never figure out.

Looked in my Internet Explorer cache folder and saw a file called "level23" hanging around.

Also, by chance, their web server happens to have a feature that offers you a similar file name if you get it close. For example, if I tried to open a file from that folder called "level23.dat", a convenient page comes up offering me level23.txt, instead of a plain-old 404. That's how I found the config.txt file.

OK, that's an hour of productivity down the tubes.

Hell yeah... "Space Penguine" is an awesome example of how to waste time, curtosey of Flash.

Bilbanan and SodaPlay are a couple more good ones...

My boss hates you. He will be sending you a bill for all of my lost hours with that SodaPlay thing!

Yeah, that slot-car one rocks. Can't seem to figure out how to download and run it locally on my hard drive, though. Anyone?

Yeah, the slot car one is my favorite.

No idea how to play it locally though... Good luck!

Heh heh heh...

I do what I can.

I just beat level 24, and it really made me mad.

The solution (at least the one I stumbled upon) depends on having the laser hit the last bulb immediately before hitting a bomb. I thought that would end the game, so I did not try it for a while. Then I thought what the heck, I'll try it, and it worked.

Here is the solution I found for level 24.

I have one for 25 also, if you need it.

Tom

Interesting. So there's more than one solution. In mine, I ended up getting that last bulb in the far-right-center vertically and the laser hit the bomb in the corner above it.

25 is a b*tch, but I want to do that one myself, thanks. Anything special happen in the game when you win it?

Anything special happen in the game when you win it?

HAHA... it actually asks you to join a mailing list to be updated for future games/news.

Tom

Yup, beat 25 and got the sign up message, too.

I have to say that 23 was the hardest of them all. 24 and 25 were pieces of cake compared to 23.

Now, who wants to reverse-engineer that file format?

So, since the high scores on "Spaced Penguin" are subposedly down, does anyone know what constitutes a really good score? I just got a hair away from 800K, including 2 separate 250K point tricks. (See attached screenshot of one of them) Too bad I didn't do this one on my first shot, or it would have been a 500K shot!

ok... So I've spent too much time playing this damn game... Sue me...

Nevermind my last post, I just smoked my own score by a longshot...

1,435,743 points in one shot.

Insanity.

Okay. So now I'm stuck on level 18. I've figured about 3 ways to solve it if I just had one more @!#!$% mirror. Hints?

Hmmm. I just re-did level 18, and the only hints I can give you without posting a screen shot are:


1) Double-mirrors allow the beam to pass through them sideways in addition to reflecting. All three double mirrors will be used this way.

2) The 45-degree angle prism will deflect beams from two opposite directions at the same time. The prism in this level is used in this fashion.

3) The central "box" on the puzzle gets circumnavigated twice. Once diagonally, and once in a straight fashion. This is where the double mirrors come in handy (they reflect the diagonal beams while also allowing the straight beams to pass).

4) The very last thing the beam does is to go down behind the diagonal wall, and split into the last prism hitting those last two bulbs at the ends of the diagonal wall.

Ahhh. It was the prism thing that got me. I was obsessed with the laser coming down to that final splitter directly. I didn't consider that it could be redirected first. Thanks muchly.

Speaking of things not working out quite right, I finished level 19 without using either of the double mirror's special features, and I finished another level (20, maybe?) without even using all of the pieces. Did anyone else get the same results?

Yeh - I found a couple of times that I either didn't use all the pieces, or didn't use the features of them. Can't remember which levels, though (and I wasted enough time yesterday playing it that I'm not going back to remind myself again now!)

Bryan.

Yes, I finished some levels without using up all the pieces, or without using the special features of certain pieces. I think it's because the designers had a particular solution in mind, and we just came up with a more efficient one.

Since no one has posted this yet, here is the secret decoder ring for the levelX.txt files:

Everything is ampersand (&) delimited.

Each square is defined by a fs#=i and fr#=j value (# = 0 to 191, 16x12 grid)

'i' is the object in the square:
0 = blank
1 = outer walls
2 = bomb
3 = square brick
4 = one-way device
10 = laser
11 = bulb

'j' is the rotation (direction) of the object (laser, one-way, outer wall)
0 = W
1 = N
2 = NW
3 = NE
4 = E
5 = S
6 = SE
7 = SW

On the line "anzo=x", x is the number of items in the bin. Objects (on the next line) are numbered 0 to x-1

The item values are:
1 = mirror
2 = splitter
3 = refractor
4 = double mirror

So who's designing the level editor?

-Jeff

That's funny...

I was just going to post a message saying that the only thing Reflections needs, is a way to make custom levels.

Looks like you're way ahead of me on this one! Awesome!

Yeah... Now all we need is an editor...

Damn. I had almost that exact thing typed into a TXT file and I was formatting it to post here. I was almost done, but then it came time for my haircut appointment, and I had to leave for an hour. During that hour, you posted.

On my way to the haircut appointmet, I toyed with the idea of making a little level editor in VB. But then it struck me: They must have a level editor of their own. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if it was built in to the gameplay engine itself. I'll bet there's a line you put in the config file to activate the editing feature or something...

Yeah... Now all we need is an editor...

What a coincidence. Click on the attachment.

Okay, notes on this one:

- It requires Microsoft Excel 97 at least. I have not tried it on later versions of Excel.
- No complaining about the fact that I did it in Excel. It was quickest that way.
- It uses a VBA macro so you gotta have that enabled.
- It was hastily thrown together, it is not pretty. Sue me.
- There is no file-checking. It flat-out writes a file called "levelx.txt" to the specified folder and will waste anything that's already there. Also, it will crash if the path to that file doesn't exist. So make sure to create a fresh folder for the file instead of overwriting your existing copy.
- Documentation will come later. For now: Select one of the desired objects on the right. Move your mouse pointer over the EDGE of the selected object and hold down CTRL and drag it onto the worksheet.

You're a mad man, Tony!

Crude, but it will definitely get the job done...

Awesome!

A side note...

An easy way to add multiple items of the same type is to right click on the item, select "Copy", and then CTRL-Click on all of the places you want to add the item, and then hit paste. Cool for mass item inserts.

Another note...

Works fine with Office 2000, specifically Excel 2000.

Dude, I have no job and I still don't have that much time on my hands. I can only assume that you've reached admin nirvana, where all computer systems are on an even keel and it's time to sit back and admire your work. Kudos.

Actually, Admin Nirvana was a couple of months ago before Nimda struck us.

I am awaiting a new server that we have to move all our stuff over to. In the meantime, our current servers aren't even backing up. I'm a wreck, actually.

The thing is, there's very little I can do about it until the new server and tape system comes in. I actually was pretty productive today. The Excel spreadsheet was thrown together pretty fast in between other things.

By the way, I've noticed that the spreadsheet doesn't show updates to the Total Items cell until after you activate the macro. I'm not sure why. It seems to be cosmetic only, and I'll probably just hide those cells anyway.

So. Now that the editor is out, who's going to challenge me with some cool laser maps? Hmm?

Ahh. Admin purgatory.

I was working with your map editor with Excel 2000 and ctrl-drag doesn't seem to work, so I was forced to copy and paste, but then the orientation of orientable objects doesn't seem to always be stuck at southeast, so I'm forced to edit the .txt file manually. Also, it'd probably make more sense to be able to place mirrors, etc. on the map to make it easier to see what you're doing, and calculate how many you need from that. Also also, you misspelled ``available''.

Oh -- it may also be interesting to note that you can have multiple lasers on the map.

That's strange. If you copy a cell from the sources on the left and paste it into the middle of the map, it should keep that orientation. If it shows the correct orientation on the main screen it should write that orientation correctly to the TXT file.

Unless the Excel 2000 macro language behaves differently than the Excel 97 macro language. That would royally piss me off. The orientation code looks for the little \ | / - characters in the cell. It does something different depending on whether it finds the character early in the cell or late in the cell (so it can tell the difference between the up direction and the down direction for example). The only way I see that it could get that wrong is if (a) the text got changed in the process of copying and pasting, or (b) the "InStr" visualbasic function is returning different values on 97 and 2000.

If you want to mess with it yourself, the password to unprotect the worksheet is pitifully obvious.

Damn,

You beat me to it. I was working on an excel spreadsheet editor as well. Although, I have to say yours is far superior to the one I was making. I've never used VB scripting, so mine was pretty simple. I guess I'll scrap it now. Oh well, it fun to screw with while waiting for a design-rule-check to finish at work.

-Jeff

Hmm, I seem to have gotten the bug with the always-SE-facing laser, too, so I'll look into it.

So how were you going to do it without VB scripting?

Oh, God, my code was so brain-damaged. Attached please find a bug-fixed version that has the correct compass directions for the directional objects.

Told you I did it in a hurry.

Without a lot of playtesting, how about this one?

Hi Tony.

I wonder why you used all items in level 17. Here is my try, just before putting the last mirror into position.


cu,
sven

Very good. Now that I see it, I think I may have done it that way the first time, and didn't remember how to do it when I tried it again.

Cool. First user-published level!

At first I thought I could do it without using all the pieces, but I ended up using everything. Didn't use the double-sided mirrors in a special way, though, they could have been singles.

Hmmm. Not very hard, I guess. What I was heading for was a situation where the laser ends up being pointed at a bomb and you have to use a mirror to block the laser instead of reflect it. But then I remembered your earlier annoyance at the fact that there was a level you completed where the last thing it does is hit a bomb, and it still worked. Which makes my little trick useless, since it doesn't really matter if you hit a bomb, as long as all the bulbs light up. Oh, well.

Figured it out with one extra mirror...



Tom

1,435,743 points in one shot.

I did the exact same thing as you on level 6, except I got it on the first try. Most of the rest came from level 25 - it looks impossible but you can actually set up a stable pattern which just barely extends to the ship, so it takes a while before the ship and the penguin meet.

Argh, so much sleep lost over the two games in this thread. You guys are evil.

Borislav

Nuts. I just went to their site to pull a copy so I could try out these maps you folks are building only to find out that they've had to take it down due to too over 70,000 players/day. Now where would one go if they wanted to find a lingering copy of that game.... Would it remain in my cache?

Would it remain in my cache?

Very likely.

I also noticed that the site still has the configuration file and level files available if you know their file names (config.txt level1.txt level2.txt etc). So if you can find a copy of the SWF file somewhere, you can grab their levels from the internet still.

Hmm. I can only get level1.txt and config.txt from them. And I've lost my cache in yesterdays reboot... sigh.

Thanks anyway.

I have it zipped here.

Thanks!

damn you! I haven't been a member here for more than a year so one day things were going slow at work so i decided to look at old posts. I came across this link and i have been hooked since. my roomate the first time around go 1,146,604 points and I've been trying to beat it since.

[wishful thinking]
I thought i would post a message here to bring it back to the front so that someone may see this and give me pointer to be able to beat my roomate.
[/wishful thinking]

According to the one I'm playing, there are 28 levels. Did I miss something?

According to the one I'm playing, there are 28 levels. Did I miss something?

They changed it later, after this thread was popular. Also, some of the original code changed so that my editor program doesn't even work on it any more (wondering if it was BECAUSE of the editor or not, we may never know).

Bummer.

Damn you butter. I've just lost a couple of days worth of my free hacking time. Oh well, at least I'm done now

OK! Thank you for the many wasted hours. I'm slow. Anyone want to show me what level 10 looks like? I've wasted too many hours staring at it.

Here's a big hint.



Oops. I seem to have screen-grabbed "About Flash 5" as well. Nevermind, there's only the 2 pieces placed so far.

thought this was pretty coo

Thanks! I think I tried to do that saturday when I was staring at it, but the pieces didn't seem to want to stay there.