Optimal Solution Finder:

The CCL Game The CCL Winter Game Sony Pinball Puzz Pinball

A distributed computing project by Paul Relkin.
pwrelkin@mail.roanoke.edu

Project News

Remaining Workunits: 22236.

The project has found solutions for every level! It will be finished when the current workunits are completed.

To join the project, download the new distributed.zip.
Please send feature requests to pwrelkin@roanoke.edu.

The CCL Game and The CCL Winter Game:
278 optimal solutions have been found for 32 out of 34 levels!

Sony Pinball and Puzz Pinball:
2307 optimal solutions have been found for 36 out of 36 levels!

Top Users And Teams


1. Table Of Contents.
1. Table Of Contents.
2. About This Project.
3. About The CCL Game.
4. About The CCL Winter Game.
5. About Sony Pinball.
6. About Puzz Pinball.
7. Download.
8. Installation.

Current Progress

2. About This Project.
This project is the result of an idea I had in 2001 while playing the physics game The Incredible Machine: Even More Contraptions (http://www.amazon.com/incredible-machine-even-more-contraptions-pc/dp/b00005kb3j/). The object of the game is to build Rube Goldberg devices that perform simple tasks, using objects from an inventory. I discovered that solutions could be constructed with less objects by using the objects in unapparent ways or by exploiting glitches in the game's physics algorithm. I wondered if testing every possible permutation of objects would reveal optimal solutions that used the objects in more interesting ways than the obvious ones. This project is using distributed computing to solve clones of The Incredible Machine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredible_Machine). These games have a very large number of possible solutions for each level. The project sifts through possible solutions, using the decompiled physics algorithms from each game. Possible solutions that are not solved after 1,000 frames are rejected. The goal of this project is to create walkthroughs with the games' optimal solutions. A solution is optimal if it uses the least number of objects required to win the level.

3. About The CCL Game.
The CCL Game was made by Kerb for CCL Computers. It was released in February 2005 and after 6 months had been played over 650,000 times. More information about the campaign can be found on Kerb's website (http://www.kerb.co.uk/viral+games+chart?contentId=255). The object of the game is to move a package across a warehouse to the exit by placing conveyor belts, fans, and springs on a grid. The CCL Game contains 7 levels. The game ends if a level has not been solved after 10 attempts. The original CCL game is no longer available on CCL Computers' website. However, the game can still be found with The Wayback Machine (http://web.archive.org/web/20050310011025/http://www.cclonline.com/pc/hardware/software/thecclgame/) and a version with only the first 3 levels can be found on many Flash game sites (http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/224910/).

4. About The CCL Winter Game.
The CCL Winter Game is the sequel of The CCL Game. It was released in December 2005 and replaced the original CCL game on CCL Computers' website. The game features new winter graphics and 10 new levels. It also allows an unlimited number of solutions to be tried for each level. However, there is a bug in level 4 which will still end the game after 10 attempts. The CCL Winter Game can be played on CCL Computers' website (http://www.cclonline.com/pc/hardware/software/thecclgame/).

5. About Sony Pinball.
Sony Pinball was made by Kerb for Playstation's Club 404 website. It was released in April 2005. The object of the game is to move a pinball to the exit by placing pinball machinery on a grid. The pinball machinery can be rotated in different directions. Sony Pinball contains 10 levels. It can be played on Kerb's website (http://www.kerb.co.uk/showcase/games/play?contentId=129).

6. About Puzz Pinball.
Puzz Pinball was made by Kerb for Mobclub. It was released in September 2007. It is the sequel of Sony Pinball. Puzz Pinball contains 26 levels. It can be played on Mobclub's website (http://www.mobclub.com/free/mobile/Webgames/puzzle/1315/puzzpinball/).

7. Download.
You can join this project by downloading distributed.zip.

8. Installation.
To install this project, simply unzip the Project folder and run distributed.exe. You may need to install a Java Runtime Environment or msvcr71.dll. You can enter an optional username or team to track your computer's contribution to the project. The client will only use idle CPU time. An Internet connection is required to send and receive workunits from the server.

The CCL Game and The CCL Winter Game:
278 optimal solutions have been found for 32 out of 34 levels!

Sony Pinball and Puzz Pinball:
2307 optimal solutions have been found for 36 out of 36 levels!


Top Users And Teams

Remaining Workunits:

The CCL Game
Finished!

The CCL Winter Game
Room 8 - Flash 9
7 objects: 41.45682023008% completed.
Room 8 - Flash 10
7 objects: 40.705620596493% completed.

Sony Pinball
Finished!

Puzz Pinball
Finished!