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Sofa of Death
August 5th, 2005, 03:37 AM
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/pearl.shtml


it's driving me insane
foil1212
August 5th, 2005, 03:41 AM
my god, me too! I tried to play it a bunch

edit: I tried again, and If I clicked 1 more, I would have won...3 pearls left, but for some reason I couldnt touch them because it was in the last row! they make it so that youre not able to win...its stupid. Youre just running into a brick wall... :wall: (yes I admit I did that just to get a smiley in)
Coolguy
August 5th, 2005, 04:07 AM
i beat it long ago by cheating...

how so you ask?
have two of those games open...
first game-have HIM make the first move...once he moves you...
second game-make the same move, he did in the other game....wait for him to move after your move
first game-copy the move he did in the other game and wait for him to move then you....
second game-repeat the above steps.

then eventually you will win in one game, and lose in the other.
foil1212
August 5th, 2005, 04:26 AM
wow...you did cheat
jkks
August 5th, 2005, 07:03 AM
damn this is hard, but i've played similar games so much, i'm thinking of beating this :)
UnknownToa
August 5th, 2005, 03:37 PM
it doesnt let you
i had 2 left and it was my FREAKING TURN
I CLICK ON ONE
IT DOESNT DO SHIT!!!!!!!
Xiss
August 5th, 2005, 03:47 PM
MOFO! I wanna slap him!
Rab
August 5th, 2005, 03:49 PM
Yeah that guys voice is really bugging.
GarfNart
August 5th, 2005, 03:52 PM
i quit
Xiss
August 5th, 2005, 04:03 PM
Leigt sig rab.
snoopay700
August 5th, 2005, 07:45 PM
i beat it long ago by cheating...

how so you ask?
have two of those games open...
first game-have HIM make the first move...once he moves you...
second game-make the same move, he did in the other game....wait for him to move after your move
first game-copy the move he did in the other game and wait for him to move then you....
second game-repeat the above steps.

then eventually you will win in one game, and lose in the other.
Damn dude, it does work, awesome.
biohack
August 9th, 2005, 02:19 AM
SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!









I found this game very interesting. You can treat it like any string-manipulation exercise and build up a table of 'winning' and 'losing' positions (a winning position being one from which all possible moves are losing, naturally). The result is surprisingly regular mathematically.

Special case: an odd number of single pearls always wins: 1, 1;1;1, 1;1;1;1;1 etc. An even number always loses. Because 1 is a special case I'll use X=positive integer, N=integer greater than 1. Numbers with different subscripts must not be equal to another.

Two rows only wins if they're the same: N1;N1

Three rows only wins if they're all different: X1;X2;X3. And, X1+X2 = X3. Worse, only half the combinations win - if X1;X2;(X2-X1) are a winning triplet than X1;X2;X3 loses. You can build up a table of winning triplets by starting with 1;1;1 (winning) and X1;X1;2*X1 (losing) and throwing out one of the lower values and summing the other two to make a replacement. Winners beget losers and losers beget winners. What you really need to know: 1;2;3 wins, 1;4;5 wins, 2;4;6 wins.

I worked out that N;X1;X2;X3 with X1,X2,X3 as above loses, because the comp takes N. And 1;1;X1;X1 wins. But observing the comp it's clear that ANY X1;X1;X2;X2 seems to win, though I didn't even conjecture that far on paper. The fourth row is something more complicated to think about (and so to code), which is why the game is boastfully subtitled "the fourth row"

Using all these things it becomes clear by elimination that only one move leaves you alive on the first go. (maybe two - I didn't check one idea). Then you just avoid giving the computer the winning positions above until you get to triplets, and you're home free.
Coolguy
August 9th, 2005, 02:30 AM
^^ ill give u a leet for figuring all that out. gratz.
jumpmanlives
August 9th, 2005, 04:43 AM
SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

found this game very interesting. You can treat it like any string-manipulation exercise and build ............


Your post was over a dozen lines of text and it had equations within it, I sure it was a lovely post but that kind of combination reeks of an uninviting text-book.
Sofa of Death
August 9th, 2005, 05:01 AM
Your post was over a dozen lines of text and it had equations within it, I sure it was a lovely post but that kind of combination reeks of an uninviting text-book.

couldn't have said it better myself......

well, i could, but i gave him +rep instead... you know, to show my appreciation