Just a request...

I don't think this will happen but anyway... I think it would be best if everybody said they would not look up the solution algorythm on the internet and instead found it out by themselves.

Some people may find that easy to do but myself I am finding it a bit of a challenge so far... I just think it would be best if people just worked it out by themselves.

I realise I am making assumptions here, sorry if I am totally wrong, I just wanted to say it...

sure i am trying to find it out myself. I am pritty pround of myself as having made an extreemly fast code which finds solutions most of the time ;)

yo men!
i say that anyone that has ever seen this puzzle in his life before should pretty well know the solution algorithm. I have played such puzzles when i was a kid and i can ALWAYS solve it, that is, if it can be solved at all. The algorithm is quite simple and easily coded - just moving each number to its place in order. Its really fast too, I don't understand why is the 30seconds limit, i'd say that 3 seconds per puzzle are more than enough. The problem is, this algorithm doesn't produce shortest solution, but is that important at all?

quote from the contest page:


Sounds like if your script has too many moves it won't make it past the first rounds...

If a simple algorigthm existed, there would be no need for this contest...

Who said anything about 'simple'?

There are lots of ways this can be solved. Personally, I think researching on the Internet is a smart thing to do - it's not as if the "right" algorithm is going to be easy to implement anyway. Part of web development is not reinventing the wheel - research and implementation are what it's all about. To me it seems stupid to ignore the reams of paper worth of knowledge on methods of solving the 15 puzzle - the papers are written by people who have lots of experience in this field.

Think about this: Coding 'your own' simple solution would take less time than researching, understanding and implementing a proven algorithm. Copying something from the Internet (properly) would take more time and effort; why should someone who put more time and effort into it not win?

And as the first maze puzzle demonstrated, just because you use the same algorithm doesn't mean you get the same results.

On the other hand, I'd be awfully peeved if the winner just ported a program he found on the 'net to PHP.