Event Trivia - Regi is the winner

[Zeriab]

Hello there and welcome to Event Trivia.

Signups are now [CLOSED] and the trivia has [ENDED]
I thank the 13 participants for joining up in my event.
I congratulate Regi for winning the trivia. I have left the rules in tact for newcomers wanting to see how such a trivia works.

I order to spout some activity into this forum I am doing an Event Trivia again. (I did one 3 years ago)
It is a point based forum game where the participants with the least amount of points at each round will be removed.
The rules might vary a bit with two organizer instead of one.
My goal with this topic is to spread knowledge about events in a fun and challenging way.
My events will be from RPG Maker XP. Most of these will be easy to implement in another version.
There might be a few which cannot be implemented in the same way on other versions.
I will not check the validity of the events on other versions.

To illustrate the heart of the questions there is hardly anything better than an example:

A standard event has the event commands

You don't have to consider how it is triggered.
What does this event do?
Assuming Switch 1 is on: What is the output of the event?
How many outcomes does this event have?

Answer the questions separately.
3 points

You don't have to answer the the questions, it's just to give you a feel.
The example does not show the general level of difficulty.

========================

Contestants
Scoring
1st 20.9 points - Regi ~ Winner!
2nd 12.4 points - Glitchfinder
3rd 9.0 points - theory
4th -8.5 points - LegacyX
5th -9.4 points - becoolioman

Disqualified (Boo)
-10 points - Rayne
-10 points - LooseEnds
-10 points - Mr_Smith
-10 points - The Panda
-10 points - QuantumMindGames

Had to leave
Lionel
ShadowMainZERO
Ulqiorra

Rules
Be sure to answer the events within 72 hours starting from the time the events are posted.
Be also sure to read the rules, and remember to PM me (Zeriab) with your answer.
If you have questions post them instead in the Event Trivia.
Posting your answer in the topic itself will lead to disqualification.

Points
When you give an answer you are awarded a number of points as given in the problem.
For every detail you miss you loose a point.
If you don't provide an answer then get the lowest score possible.

Let's say you have a 3 points problem, miss one detail and part of another, then you are awarded 1.5 points.
If you miss four details then you are awarded -1 points. In other words you loose 1 point.
If you don't answer at all you get -3.
Note that you will always loose more points by not answering than giving a completely faulty answer.
Note that you can increase your score by exceptional answers although never above the max. (The max of a 3 points problem is 3 points).

Tip: Read the whole event and do what is requested.

 

[bacon]

Yay Im Green!

-I didnt understand what you meant by scenerio, you were right about that Zeriab.

(You better watch out Regi, Im comin to get you. RAWR.)

^_^

 

[Zeriab]

It's alright. At least you know now.
It feels nice being green right? Keep giving me good answers and become better so you can stay in green :3
I am making the previously red problem score green and the no reply points red. That way it should be easier to see max and min.

The bold sentences are the task you have to do or questions you have to answer.

Problem 3
5 points
-3 points on no reply

This problem is different since you have to event a solution to a problem Arshes has.
You see Arshes want to walk around where it pleases him.

The problem is that if he walks onto the cursed sand it breaks the sealing of Arshes inner ghost.

The cure is to use his hot and murky thief's outfit. (Arshes is a thief if you didn't know)

This way Arshes prevents the cursed sand from breaking the seal of the ghost. He really doesn't like wearing the outfit though and therefore want to remove it immediately as he steps onto the grass.

As you probably have figured out the problem is to change the outfit of Arshes accordingly where he is on grass on sand. The actor graphics to use are:
Grass: 001-Fighter01
Sand: 018-Thief03

The map shown is a 20x15 map and the grass field is specified as:

You have to create an event which provides the wanted outfit changes for the given map.
Make a picture of the event and pm that picture to me. (You can for example upload the picture to imageshack.us or to bb.xieke.com)

Now consider this map

You DO NOT have to implement the outfit change on that map. Just answer the following question:
What will it take to make your implementation work on that map?

You have 72 hours from the time of this post.

*hugs*
- Zeriab

 

[aphadeon]

Ooh, a challenge! And this one's right in my area of expertise. If I drop the ball here... well, that would be quite embarrassing.

 

[Flickayy]

...Damn...this is not good for me...

Well at least ill probably learn something =]

 

[aphadeon]

Oh, and don't you mean Aluxes? lol. I really hope you've upgraded since the Arshes days.

But then, despite such vivid resemblance, you never explicitly stated he was from the RTP. Nothing like original characters, right?

Edit: These are not clarifying questions! Don't banhammer me!

 

[aphadeon]

Don't let this die, Zeriab.
We're too good for that.
Do you need the entries again? We can resend them.

 

[Zeriab]

I have all entries, no worries on that end.
The problem was more the outage and that I have been busy.
It was not unexpected and had there not been an outage you probably wouldn't have noticed my absence.
I don't think I have enough time today, but I hope to get the results posted tomorrow.

Spoiler: Problem 3 results repost

I'll start by saying that you have everything but scripting available at your disposal. There are two reasons for not allowing scripting except where explicitly stated. The first is to keep focus on the eventing. It is possible that focus shift can occur to other areas, but it is far less likely. The second is that allowing scripting in general will make the grading harder.
The downside is that scripting is not available, this is a real downside and one should DEFINITELY keep possibilities of scripting in mind when eventing in practice. Some more robust and efficient systems can be made. I don't believe it is too much of a problem since the purpose of this event trivia is not the production of systems, the purpose is teaching. Besides there will probably come problems where scripting should or must be considered. Scripting can make eventing stronger.

Problem 3 results
There are numerous ways of implementing the wanted functionality.
Under the assumption that there is a terrain tag available for use the easiest way to implement it is by using terrain tags. I would most likely implement it like this on parallel processing: (There can easily be case specific details)

The sand tile have 1 as its terrain tag and the grass something else.
I have chosen only to update the graphic of the cursed hero when the terrain tag changes.
This way the system doesn't disturb graphic changes as long as the terrain tag of the cursed hero doesn't change. I.e. you don't have to keep switching the system on and off.

Yes there are more to consider with this system, but I feel letting you think about and maybe I'll make post about it later or maybe it'll come in the responses to the submissions.

Oh yeah, the answer for question two with this question is: None (other than possible copy the event to the map.)

Submissions

Glitchfinder

Spoiler

Event Contest - Problem 3

Question 1: Question 1 was fairly simple, but I didn't like the overall result. Although the event could easily be made, it was either highly inefficient, or too long to be worthwhile. So, I'll go into my solution after the initial image, which is the basic, standard solution.

The problem with this event is that it is constantly changing the player's graphic, which can slow down many systems. So, instead of creating an extra-large event that checks for when the player is actually changing between one section and another, I decided to recreate the event, using scripted conditional branches instead of standard ones. The result was this:

The script in the outer conditional branch is as follows:

$game_player.y < 12 && ($game_player.x > 4 && $game_player.x < 15)

And the script in the inner conditional branches are below, in order.

$game_player.character_name == "018-Thief03"

$game_player.character_name == "001-Fighter01"

This event will now be more efficient in checking the player's position, and will also check the player's graphic before actually modifying it, to make sure it actually needs modification.

Question 2: Question 2 was, in effect, much simpler. Although I could just tell you how to do it, I think I'll include images as well, just because I couldn't resist building it.

Anyway, the first step to answering question 2 is to go to the Tilesets tab of the Database, and click on the Terrain Tag button for the appropriate tileset. You then choose the tile you want to give a special attribute, and click it until it has the number you'd like. I chose to give the sandy autotile the terrain tag of 1.

After changing the terrain tags, you click OK and go back to the map. You can then create the following event on the map. (Please note that a variant can be created as a common event, although it must also be set to parallel process, and must have the specified switch in the on position before functioning)

As you can see, this is also rather inefficient. So, instead of changing the player's graphic constantly, we can update this event so that it will check their graphic first, in much the same way as the second version of my entry for question 1.

As you can see, I have modified the initial code tag, and switched the other two to match the case here. Now, this is not a solution for every kind of terrain tag, merely for what we have as an example. If it was for every terrain tag, and every tag created a different actor image, I would instead check to see that the player graphic was in fact NOT the image I am changing it to. The same goes for the second version of the event for question 1, which was custom tailored to fit the example.

Mwuahaha! You fell for my trap. >:3
There is no rule against using terrain tags. I deliberately give information which are irrelevant should you use a terrain tag based approach.
No scriptin's. I will ignore your scripting stuff. Especially considering there are no real benefit from using the hybrid solution.
Since you are using Jump to Label when all three branches hold there is no need for the three else branches since the contents is the same. Even if you didn't use Jump to Label having the three else branches containing the exact same code is not only bad style but increase complexity and changing one requires changing the others.
Utilize the labels properly now that you are using them. There is no need for the Change to Thief label. You could just have removed all the else branches, the exit event process right after the conditional branches and the behaviour would be the same.
Since you are using Exit Event Processing getting to the end of the event doesn't matter. A better version would have been this:

For all this you get 2.3 points deduction.
The event keeps calling the change graphics method on average 1.5 times per frame. The method is only costly if a different graphic is called, but it is a generally good idea only to change the graphics if there is a need. I.e. only if changing areas. You were partly in on this, but since you didn't give an evented solution and because the reasoning was wrong I will deduct 0.4 points.
The danger is that it disturbs any other graphics change even if they just exists for a few frames.

You insinuate that terrain tags could not have been used for question 1. 0.1 point deduction.
The question 2 is otherwise nice. I have already deducted point for the change graphic call every execution of the event so I won't deduct more points ^^

You receive 2.2 points for your submission. I don't mean to discourage your exploration in scripting. Feel free to keep exploring. Just know that it won't earn you any points.
On the other hand I feel that instead of trying to optimize your solution in an evented way you went the scripted way. Be careful not to be blinded by scripted solutions

LegacyX

Spoiler

you would have to create an event all away arond the edges?

thats my answer for the second one... hope its right

You have not answered the first question. 4 points deduction.
You would not have to create an event all way around the edges. This is a bad solution and would require 70-100 events. That's for a 20x15 map and you cannot really answer question 2 before doing quesiton 1. 1 point deduction.
Creating the events are not in itself enough. 0.5 point deduction.

You receive -0.5 points. It's better than receiving -3 points right? I hope you have more time for the next problem ^_^

Near

Spoiler

http://bb.xieke.com/files/Event_Trivia.zip

That's my little Event System, sorry if you had to have pictures, but I hate taking screenshots. Image editing programs are such a pain to open for no reason. You understand right?^^

I'd actually use a script for this in actuality, but it's trivia and not the real thing, so it's fine.

I understand about not wanting to open image editing program for no reason, but there are a reason and your easily fitted into one screenshot. Nothing about combining images and what-not.
I took a screenshot of the event and uploaded it to bb.xieke.com. (I used alt+print screen and opened paint.)

You haven't answered question 2. 3 points deduction.

The idea of using events to specify the area is nice. 0.5 point bonus.
The structural problems of the nested branches exist just like with Glitchfinder's. 1 point deduction.
You don't consider that the actor graphics method is called every execution. 0.5 point deduction.

You receive 1 point. Next remember to answer all questions. It is expensive not answering questions.

Regi

Spoiler

There are a couple of ways to event this. You could place touch events around the outside of the grass area or a Parallel Process event. I chose the latter method.

What I did was set 2 variables to the player's Map X and Map Y. Then I used Conditional Branches to check if the player was in the area of sand or grass. Depending on which area, Arshes would change graphic accordingly. I used a "Wait 3 frames" at the end to reduce lag in case other events were running.

For the second image, touch events or variable checking would be a pain. If you use the latter method, you would need to check every single tile or area of sand through Conditional Branches and the X, Y variables. Then, at the very end, in the Else branch you'd have a command changing Arshes back into his regular graphic.

An easier method would be to mark the sand as Terrain Tag 1. Then you can simply use a Parallel Process with a Conditional Branch checking if the player is on Terrain Tag 1. If so, change Arshes' graphic to a thief; else, change it back to normal.

The structural problems of the nested branches exist just like with Glitchfinder's and Near's event. 1 point deduction.
You don't consider that the actor graphics method is called every execution. 0.5 point deduction.
Having a wait bring down the resource usage is a generally good idea. 3 frame wait is however too long. It can be noticed. (The ghosts might come forth!). These types of events should either wait 1 frame or don't wait at all. This event does not require many resources, but a 1 frame wait still cuts resource usage roughly down to a third. Probably a little less with such a short event. In total a 0.2 point deduction.

The discussions are good. 0.5 point bonus.

You receive 3.8 points. Excellent work Regi ^_^

theory

Spoiler

Question 1:
A parralel process (can be used from a common event, or a map event. Not from battle, for obvious reasons.)

Question 2:
You'd have to use either Player Touch events, or check terrain tags. You could also use a call script to go by autotile name, if you wanted to put forth the effort. Or even by tile number, for that matter. But assuming no scripting. either Player Touch events or terrain tags. Terrain tags require access to the database- not sure if this can be assumed a safe answer in a strictly event-driven challenge.

Your event is insane. You obviously haven't followed the KISS principle. I will evaluate each part of the event.

Task 0 - Setup Boundaries
The idea of only setting up boundaries once is a noble idea. It doesn't really work well in this case since the boundary setting is not costly. (This could be set in another event if need be)
Right now it just increases the complexity of the event while not really being worth it. You should note the side effect of Self-switch A being turned on. This particular important since you say it can be run from a common event. (What happens if it runs from a parallel common event? Yes not good)

Task 1 - Setup Player XY
There's nothing really to say to this section.

Task 2 - InsideBounds
The structure of the nested branching is problematic as I have explained to some of the earlier submissions.
You should have set OutOfBounds to ON or OFF and then make a nested branching without any else branches to turn OFF or ON the OutOfBounds switch.
1 point deduction.

Task 3 - Detect Change
This becomes a bit messy from the Jump to label Task 5 - End Loop.
You should have placed the Jump to Label: Task 5 after the conditional branch and just have 4a and 4b.
0.5 point deduction.

The last 3 tasks are fine.
The overall size of the event makes it harder to understand and increase probability of errors. 0.4 point deduction.
The commenting is nice. 0.8 bonus.

Database is free-for-all. You can use whatever you like as long as you document it.
Your answer to question 2 is fine.

You receive 3.9 points. It's nice to see that you have really put some effort into your submission. Keep up the good work!

Scoring
1. 10.8 points - Regi
2. 7.2 points - Glitchfinder
3. 6.9 points - theory
4. 5.4 points - Near
5. -0.5 points - LegacyX
6. -1.4 points - becoolioman
7. -8 points - ShadowMainZERO

Disqualified (Boo)
-10 points - Rayne
-10 points - LooseEnds
-10 points - Mr_Smith
-10 points - The Panda
-10 points - QuantumMindGames

Lessons learned

I will post Problem 4 in the next post.

*hugs*
- Zeriab

Spoiler: Problem 4 repost

Problem 4 is an experiment and probably breaks the trivia scope.

Problem 4 (Scripting is allowed)
10 points
-3 points on no reply
A special rule of this problem is that you all start with a 5 point deduction.

Scenario
The two treasure hunters slowly open the door to the bedroom and sneak over to the chest. Together they have broken into the mansion of the evil Magician Murphy after reports of his death. Martin, a hunter, and Rose, the thief, have a long story of successful treasure hunts behind them. To night will be different.

The get over to the chest and Rose wastes no time in trying to pick the chest.
The chest jerks, coughs and spews the pick out.

Murphy, the evil magician, had anticipated that his time soon would come and he spent the last week of his life cursing and otherwise bringing parts of his mansion alive. Treasure hunters or any other good-for-nothings should have what they got coming. Murphy, in addition to being extremely evil, had a really bad teasing habit. Not in a kind way, but a deliciously evil way.

Task
The task is to event the scenario. The chest interaction is the main point. You have finish what I have started. Use your imagination.
The important points is to set the mood, to give the chest life and to give it personality.
Make the scene as if it's for a real game. Make it entertaining, scaring or whatever you like.
The point here is partly the functional and partly the aesthetics.
Additionally you have to document what you do and your reasonings. Explain your motives.

It's a free-for-all. Scripting is allowed.

You have 120 hours (5 days) from the time of this post.

*hugs*
- Zeriab

*hugs*

 

[Glitchfinder]

I think that theory's is rather well done, if unusual. And, if you're wondering how he got those unreleased scripts from me, it's because we bounce scripts back and forth while working on them. And yes, I have seen theory's project. He's seen mine too. We made sure that we had submitted them, though.

 

[Ulqiorra]

I saw Theory's too.

It's too bad I couldn't participate, but my computer had a broken screen, and I was computer-less for a week... :sad:

 

[Zeriab]

Sorry for the late response.
It took longer to judge than I had anticipated.
Good work everyone. Especially you theory :3

Problem 4 results
No one used the image I provided
Remember the special rule of all entries having 5 points deducted.
For each submissions I will provide provide feedback and then the scoring.

Submissions

Spoiler: Glitchfinder

Well, with how much free time I had this week, I didn't have nearly enough time to finish this. Anyway, on to what I was thinking.

The light in the bedroom, and those in the hall, will turn on and off. This was just to show off some cool effects that can be achieved with pictures set to add and subtract.

If you sit for a while, you will be treated to a rather intense thunderstorm. This was to show that certain effects, like lighting windows, lighting rooms, and sound effects, can easily be coordinated and used together.

You will also notice that the house has doors. These doors are all different. The one in the entryway always closes, the one into the study has around a 50% chance of closing partially, and the other two will do the same thing on a much lower chance. To go with this, you can actually walk behind most of the walls, as though it were based more closely on real life. When the door is opened, you are temporarily frozen when an event in the top right corner is placed on top of you, and then removed again. (So that you don't shortcircuit the event) I did this instead of using the wait for move completion command because that command is somewhat buggy, and alternatives usually exist.

The setup event will only start the background music and transfer to the thunderstorm controllers.

And finally, the ghost and chest are part of a duo. You open the chest, and the ghost will come towards you and battle. This is where things get interesting. The enemy, which is a shade of Murphy, only knows two moves. First, he knows a physical attack that plays the Darkness 2 animation. And second, he knows 1 spell. He also has an evented controller that will override his moves with one of several overly dramatic intros, play an animation, and deal a random amount of damage. He will also do a couple of other things, like completely heal you and your party with "cursed water", or mess up on one of his spells. (Although he refuses to take the blame for that one) This battle, while pretty easy, was mostly intended for a little bit of humor, because I had no time for my original plans.

After the battle, you receive an item and return to the title. This is also because I ran out of time. (Although the item is rather...interesting) I would have also added more filters, such as lights for every light, and their shadows, if I had enough time. (As well as shadows for that lightning strike) This is not your fault, but merely the fault of a busy work week, both at home and professionally.

Here's the link:

http://bb.xieke.com/files/GlitchEventContest.rar

Feedback
You did not give the chest life and definitely not personality.
You have a guardian protect the chest, but the chest is just a nameless inanimate object which you can interact with.

You set the mood quite well with the thunderstorm and the tint is nice.
Turning on and off the lamps works quite well. That you can only use some of the lamps does not work well. I know it's because you ran out of time, but you could at least have displayed a message about them not working or something like that. I.e. made them interactive. It would not have taken a long time and given a more consistent feel.
You should have evented the tint instead of the scripted version you provide. It would have been far more dynamic. Just put it in an event on Parallel Process and you won't see the map before the tint. (Assuming it's running from the start :P)
The Game_Picture changes works well with the Lighting system. Good structure of the Lightning system.

Not a single comment event command has been used in the project.
Half of the events have good names and the other half have standard names (I.e. bad names)
The pm is good and explains most. There is no documentation about your scripting. This is problematic with your tint.

You can open the chest in two positions, but you only check if the ghost is in one of the positions. 0.7 point deduction. (Not a whole point since the ghost can go to the right scare and usually do although it's quite obvious that something is wrong)

Interesting doors. It's fun that can move a bit on their own. It works well with the scenario. (You use the same variable for the three doors)
To limit the player's movement you can just Set Move Route for the player with the Wait X amount of frames command. It's good that you did not use Wait for Movement's Completion.
The use of a block event is a bit excessive for the doors, especially because it makes no difference where you use it. The player waits when the trigger is Player Touch. You should have used it when the trigger is Parallel Process although I would still prefer Set Move Route.

Battle event:
The possibility of special skills which comes after a message is a nice idea and the voice over is novel.
Page 3. Why is there are page which will not be executed? I can see you have realized this due to page three in the Magician's Ghost map event.
Page 2 have flow control problems and following excessive checks. Additionally the contents of the branches exceeds the width of the window so one have to go into the event command to look at the code.

Checking both lower and upper bound have the advantage that you can have some buffer points between two actions. This allows you to do some later tweaking of probability of single actions without affecting the probability of other actions. (Except the default, which in this case is none)
You have not done this so there isn't really any reason to do the extra checks.
The battle event does NOT override his normal moves. They work in addition to, not as replacement for.
I find it peculiar that you must hurt Murphy's Shade before he starts doing any special actions. There is nothing wrong with it. It's just weird.

Scoring
Special rule: 5 point deduction
Chest inanimate without personality: 3 points deduction.
Thunderstorm + lights for setting the mood: +1 point bonus
Doors: +0.5 point bonus
Chest issue: 0.5 point deduction
Commenting evens out to be a flat zero. (Same with the battle event)

This grants you 3.0 points. Remember to what the task is.

Spoiler: Regi

Here is my submission

Just a note, the ending might be a little... odd. I ran out of time to work on it and it was the best I could come up with. I included some comments in the first event, explaining most of the commands I used. Hope that should be enough.

Feedback
You have chosen to make it as a cutscene without given control to the player. This is perfectly fine, just worth noting should other people read the feedback.
You have managed to make the chest deliciously evil. I really like how you have presented it. You basically hit spot on.
You have managed to give the cutscene a nice flow. Delays and moves and etc. works well. It's nice that you did the start of the scenario as well. (You didn't have to)
Functionality wise the event is straightforward and I see no error. ^_^

Using stop to give the chest and doll life works very well.

The in-line documentation, comments in the event, are good, but their positions are not. Sometimes they come before and sometimes they come after what they describe. The convention is to make the comments describe what comes after, not before. The event names are good.
You do not explain your motives or reasons behind what you do. Only what you do.

Scoring
Special rule: 5 point deduction
Deliciously evil chest: +1 point bonus
Good cutscene flow: +0.5 point bonus
Start of scenario: +0.5 point bonus
Stop animation: +0.2 point bonus
Commenting Total: 0.2 point deduction

This grants you 7.0 points!

Spoiler: theory

I know it's literally 1 minute away from deadline... But here it is.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/4zyyxmo0qzj/Treasure.exe

first edit was a small bug fix.
second edit is this part explaining it.

also wanted to mention there are 6 endings.
If anyone has trouble finding them all, PM me.

Feedback
You set the mood quite well. The 3 fogs gives a nice misty feeling and the lightmap works well. The occasional effects gives a nice spooky feeling. (Except the screen shake which feels too powerful. I don't like it)
You have managed to give the chest life, but its not really evil and definitely not in a teasing way. It's more like a guardian which does its masters biding.
Murphy is quite evil and the twist with him knowing the visitors is interesting.
You generally use various effects to make the cutscenes well. The changes of overlay combined with the music works great to convey changes of mood.
It's nice that you did the start of the scenario as well. (You didn't have to)
I also like the idea with multiple edings.

It's nice that you can always get the last hint repeated.

Rose Trainer:
It's interesting that there is a chance of the Random Parallel 2 variable becoming 0 and thus cause page 1 to be evaluated again instead of page 2. Since you have not commented this behavior I will assume it's an error. On the other hand it's 1 in 300 percent chance of 200 frames wait being added. (Basically you can call it a nitpick)
Timer in Rose Trainer on page 2 is faulty. You lack a Wait command in the loop.
Currently it just slows the processing of the event down in the frame when that page is evaluated.
Whether to create a variable based timer or use the timer command depends on whether the timer should be showed or not. The random
I like the idea with getting Rose to speak every now and then. It helps feeling she is more invovled.

Chest:
It's a nice detail that you can only open it from one side.
I also like the repeat of the last hint.

Murphy:
The way you freeze Rose is unsafe. There is a danger of freezing her before she arrives and there is a danger of her moving before she is frozen. It depends on how quickly the messages are gone through. You should instead have frozen her by turning ON the switch at least one frame before the pathfinding is initiated.

I like the battles. The blood sprite change is cute and the murphy remains and chest battler are interesting. The betrayal is fun.
The multiple endings are novel, but you have not taken the possibility of the chest being defeated without either Rose or Martin dying.

Commenting:
Event naming of varying quality.
The comments in the events are good.
I like that the event command of each page usually is a comment explaining the purpose of that page.
You didn't really document your scripting which is not very good.

CPU usage significantly higher than normal. It can give problems on slower computer and should have been mentioned.

You have really done a good job on this one theory ^^

Scoring
Special rule: 5 point deduction
Nice effects: +1 point bonus
Overlay: +1 point bonus.
Start of scenario: +0.5 point bonus
Event trainer timer: 0.5 point deduction
Event trainer page 1 random issue: 0.1 point deduction
Interesting battles: +0.5 point bonus
Multiple endings: +0.5 point bonus
No one dying issue: 1 point deduction
CPU usage: 0.2 point deduction
Good commenting: +0.4 point bonus

This grants you 7.1 points!

Scoring
1. 17.8 points - Regi
3. 14.0 points - theory
2. 10.2 points - Glitchfinder
4. 2.4 points - Ulqiorra
5. -3.5 points - LegacyX
6. -4.4 points - becoolioman

Had to leave
ShadowMainZERO (Trial ran out)

I will post Problem 5 in the next post, but that will first be tomorrow so you have some time to chew on the feedback.
Note that Problem 7 will be the final problem.

*hugs*
- Zeriab

 

[aphadeon]

Nice. The "bug" with noone dying, is that I just yesterday learned of the true "immortal" option. Never knew there was a right click menu there. I gave the chest 9999 heatlh, made sure it had strong healing abilities, and that the power ratio should under all normal circumstances result in one or the others death. After reevaluation, I suppose a player could collect enough herbs and cherries to survive the battle. Deduction accepted.

 

[Glitchfinder]

Well, I certainly deserved that. I really feel like polishing mine off, but there's no point if I don't plan to release it. I have always been rather sporadic in naming and commenting, simply because I can almost always go back and trace out what I did fairly quickly. As to the other small fixes, like the lights, I really didn't have enough time. As best I can tell, my submission was technically late as it was, so... I didn't want to push it. After the project I'm currently working with theory on, I think I will polish this one off. I'll even add my originally intended battle, which involved the chest amounting to an overpowered, unbeatable Pokemon-like thing, and the Magician's ghost controlling it. I look forward to the next event.

Edit:

Just found this on bb.xieke, so I assume you're making the next entry?

 

[Zeriab]

Actually I killed the chest where I just used 1 cherry. The paralyze spell works wonders. In general you should consider the possibility of the enemy being defeated even if there is an ever so slight possibility.
Setting the "immortal" flag in the troop would have solved the problem. It's worth noting that the healing spell would have had no effect in that case.
You finally got over Glitch. (A goal you had ^_^)

I decided not to note the lateness since I was so late in my judgments myself. Your original idea sounds quite interesting.

Problem 5
6points
-3 points on no reply
A special rule of this problem is that you all start with a 2 point deduction.

Consider the following event: (Well, an excerpt of it)


The idea behind this event is to show a general from of having 100 different possibilities depending on a variable.
Just replace all the Do stuff #XXX comments with actual contents.
In this problem the contents of Do stuff #XXX doesn't matter which is why I have simply placed comments.
You cannot assume any correlation between the various possibilities, so you cannot reduce the amount of possibilities.

It should be quite obvious that the structure of the event has the issue of too many indentions, which leads us to the first task: (We don't want the event commands to disappear to the right)
Restructure the event so the event don't have the indention issue

In the event there can be 1 to 100 conditional branch checks. (This may not be true for your restructured event)
Change the structure of the event so the max number of conditional branch checks are below 30
How does this affect the minimum number of checks?
How does this affect the complexity of the event?

Note that the change of the event is more important than the questions.

You have 72 hours (3 days) from the time of this post.

*hugs*
- Zeriab

 

[Zeriab]

I am posting a clarification as I see my second task has been misunderstood. The misunderstood version can be defended and is thus my reason for the clarification.
There must still be 100 possibilities. 100 different outcomes. It's just the maximum number of checks to get to a single outcome that must be below 30.
The number of conditional branches are not restricted and any number of conditional branches can be used.

You are allowed to submit another solution. (Only one after this post, not two if you haven't pm'ed yet)
If you do your previous will be ignored.

Solutions that deal with another number of possibilities will be considered the same as not answering the question.
I am sorry for not making this clear.

Additionally I am extending the deadline 24 hours.

*hugs*
- Zeriab

 

[Ulqiorra]

I can't really participate anymore, sorry. But I do have a suggestion...

Edited out ~ Zeriab

 

[Zeriab]

Someone didn't read the rules.

Posting your answer in the topic itself will lead to disqualification.

Even if you can't participate you didn't have to get yourself disqualified.

 

[Ulqiorra]

:huh: ?

I didn't know I answered the question, sorry...

 

[Zeriab]

You answered parts of the problem, or more importantly it could be considered as such.

 

[Zeriab]

I am sorry about the clarification problem :sad:

Problem 5 results
For the first task about restructuring the event to mitigate the indention issue the easiest solution is the one Regi provided:

An execution of that event 1-100 of the conditional branches can be checked or interpreted if you prefer that term.
For the second task this event is not viable due to the possibility of 100 conditional branch checks in a single execution of the event.
One way of doing it is to create a binary tree of conditional branches. Here is the event I would use:

Note that I did not complete the binary tree. I used 2 conditional branches to a range of 25 conditional branches.
Can anyone calculate the max number of conditional branch checks in a single execution? Does it fulfill the requirements? Should I stop asking rhetorical questions? >_>

How does this affect the minimum number of checks?
The minimum number of checks has been increase by 2. I.e. the minimum number is 3.

How does this affect the complexity of the event?
It obviously increases the complexity. Just compare it to the original restructuring.

In general the more you narrow down the search (i.e. the more you increase the height of the tree) the more complex the event becomes. The minimum number of checks increases as well.
Every time you increase the height of the tree by one (i.e. split up the search one more time) you increase the minimum number of checks by one. The maximum number of check decrements exponentially. The complexity of the events naturally increases and so does the size of the event.
What all this means is that the first split gives a much larger bonus and the second split.
1 split => max checks goes from 100 checks down to 51.
2 splits => max checks goes from 51 checks down to 27.
3 splits => max checks goes from 27 down to 16.

At some point it is not worth it. For 100 checks I prefer 2 splits. You just have to find a balance which suits your situation.
This is what I wanted to teach you with that problem.


Remember the special rule of all entries having 2 points deducted.
For each submissions I will provide provide feedback and then the scoring.

Submissions

Spoiler: Glitchfinder

Question 1: There are several ways to do this. First, you can take the conditional branches outside the else statements. However, that leaves the possibility of more than one branch firing off. Then next possibility is to structure it as a sort of expanding tree. For example, the first branch could check to see if the variable was less than 50. The next branch inside the true condition could check to see if it was less than 25, while the next branch under the false condition could check to see if it was less than 75. This could easily continue until the correct solution is found, and satisfy the next question as well.

Question 2: I found what I assume was an unintended possibility to solve your problem. Here is that solution. In this case, the answers to the next few questions are that it decreases the minimum number of checks to 0, and that it greatly increases complexity.

Assuming that you meant what I first mentioned, and not this solution, the answers to the questions will change. The first of the two will change to the fact that the minimum number of checks will be greatly increased, I believe to the same as the maximum number. The answer to the second question will remain the same, where the change results in a much more complex event.

Feedback
Question 1 has the problem of your not providing any event code. Although itself not a problem it means your must explain what you do in more detail.
For example, you say that moving the conditional branches outside the else branches is a solution to the indention problem, which it is. You do not say to remove the else branches now that nothing is in them, so I'll have to assume that they are still there. All conditional branches fires, it's just that most of the branches fires else branch. You can solve this with an Exit Event Processing or by using a label & goto labels. That way you can get the same number of checks as with the original event. (The max number conditional branch checks does not change)
The binary tree approach does not solve the indention issue in the general case, but you can have a lot more branches before the indention becomes an issue and with 100 possibilities a binary tree would solve it.
It is good that you consider both possibilities ^_^

Question 2:
It is good you keep your mind open and think about solutions other than what the problem description seem to focus on. (Just look at problem 3)
The solution is good, but the discussion is not. How do you know it's a map event? What if I wanted to make a battle event or common event?
Your solution is for example not a valid restructuring of a common event. It's good that you think about different solutions, but you got to discuss the consequences if there are any.
One way you could have done this is by given a general applicable solution and then include your solution where you point out it is another possible solution for map events.
You should of course also have mentioned the limit of 99 pages in an event because 100 possibilities are required.
It's cute that you have provided different functionality :3

It's good you consider the binary tree solution. (I'll ignore the other solution you consider since it doesn't fulfill the below 30 conditional branch checks in a single execution)
The solution of creating a complete binary tree will indeed make the event much more complex. I have argued why you should only make part of the binary tree.
The minimum number of checks will NOT be greatly increased. It cannot be greatly increased considering that the maximum number of checks will be less than 10.

Scoring
Special rule: 2 point deduction
Empty else branches: 1 point deduction
Binary tree also considered: 0.5 point bonus
Page based solution: 1 point bonus
Lack of discussion: 1.5 point deduction
Binary tree discussion in question 2: 0.1 point bonus(sum)

This grants you 3.1 points.

Spoiler: Regi

Here is my revised solution.

Spoiler

Note that the "Jump to Label" commands can be replaced by "Exit Event Processing" or "Erase Event", if no commands follow the Conditional Branches.

The reason for the "Jump to Label" and "Label" commands is explained below.

How does this affect the minimum number of checks?
The minimum number of checks is exactly the same as the event with the indented branches. It only checks up to the value of the variable. Once a Condition is met, it jumps to the label "End", thus skipping the rest of the Conditional Branches. For example, if the variable is 39, it will only check 39 branches, and after executing the command inside the 39th branch, will skip the rest of the branches. If the "Jump to Label" commands were not present, it would continue checking the rest of the Conditional Branches after #39, unlike the version with indented branches.

How does this affect the complexity of the event?
The event is no more complex than the version with indented branches. It continues checking Conditional Branches until the condition is met, executes the code inside that branch, then skips to the end.

Feedback
You solution to the indention problem is good and the discussion is also good. I agree with the event being no more complex than the original event. I would also say it is less complex, since it's so much easier to get an overview over what's happening and it's much shorter.
You didn't solve question two. (Max checks in a single execution being lower than 30)
There isn't really anything else to comment.

Scoring
Special rule: 2 point deduction
Good discussion: 1 point bonus
Not answered question 2: 3 point dedution

This grants you 2.0 points

Scoring
1. 19.8 points - Regi
2. 13.3 points - Glitchfinder

3. 11.0 points - theory
4. -6.5 points - LegacyX
5. -7.4 points - becoolioman

Had to leave
Ulqiorra

There were only two participants answering. :sad:
Do you guys want to continue?

*hugs*
- Zeriab

 

[aphadeon]

Sorry for not having my submission in on time. I'll be honest: I had no idea what you actually wanted there. I do now, though. Oh well.

Yes, I want to continue.