In my previous statistics post I covered what the “average” SpaceChem solution looks like for each research assignment in the game. Today we will look at completion statistics!
I recently mentioned the fact that not many people finish SpaceChem, something we know through the power of statistics collection. Some commenters were interested in seeing these statistics (which have not been released until now), so I put together a few graphs this morning that show how many players have completed the different missions available in the game.
The metrics we collected for SpaceChem are a little sketchy with respect to accuracy, so I’ve decided not to put any numbers on the graph that shows the absolute number of players who beat each level. The data includes demo players, but possibly under-represents them because of some early bugs in our data collection system.
When we launched the v1012 update for SpaceChem two months ago we announced a challenge to create crazy designs using the new sandbox mode. It is now time to announce the winners!
Recycler, by GuavaMoment
Ever wondered how SpaceChem’s recyclers work? So did GuavaMoment, who submitted this design for a recycler that accepts any kind of molecule and breaks it down into a stream of hydrogens.
Cellular Automaton, by R. Daneel Olivaw
It might be best to let him explain:
It is an implementation of a cellular automaton using a molecular ring. Technically, it is a one-dimensional elementary cellular automaton of length 12 with periodic boundary conditions. Using a common template and toolbox, there are actually several sandboxes that implement a variety of the Wolfram rules for cellular automaton.
Tic-Tac-Toe, by cake>pie
ResearchNet regular cake>pie decided to take the meta route and recreate tic-tac-toe in SpaceChem. Moves are specified by using pairs of H/He/Li to describe coordinate positions. The design includes error checking to ignore illegal moves and support for both player specified moves and random moves (as shown in the video).
Brainfuck Interpreter, by Peer
The only reason SpaceChem’s sandbox mode exists is because of an email I received from Peer, who was working on building a computer in SpaceChem but needed more power. With the release of sandbox mode he was able to follow through and create a programmable interpreter for the brainfuck programming language.
The following video demonstrates a program that inputs two numbers (4-bit integers), adds them together, and displays the result. You can click the links at the beginning of the video to learn about the individual subsystems, and can click the link to the video itself to learn more about the project and instruction set.
I hope that everyone’s SOPA blackout day was as productive as ours was. If you live in the US and didn’t get to call or email your representative, there is still time. Help keep the internet free!
By looking at our score collection metrics for SpaceChem, we’re able to tell how far people get through the game on an aggregate level. Unsurprisingly, not many people finish the game. One of the biggest problems with this is that many people start reading the story but then are unable to finish it, as progress in the story is gated by progress in the game.
Now that SpaceChem has been out for a year, we’ve decided to release a stand-alone version of the story. Curious what happens to Bruce and our nameless protagonist? Find out now!
According to EDGE magazine and Gamasutra/IndieGames.com, SpaceChem is the indie game of the year! I’m really happy that things have transpired to the point where this could be the case, and want to thank all of the Zachtronics Industries fans, both new and old, who helped get us where we are today.
We’ve sold out of physical copies of SpaceChem and have thus removed it from the Zachtronics Industries store. We may print more copies in the future, although it’d probably be through a service like Kickstarter, allowing us to ensure we’d sell enough of them to break even and batch together most of the sales. If this sounds like something that’s interesting to you, let us know in the comments.
Not only are we running out of physical copies of SpaceChem, we’re also running out of time for any orders to arrive before the holidays! If you have been thinking about ordering a physical copy of SpaceChem to give as a gift, please place your order now to ensure that you receive it in time. Thanks!
We’ve made it into the top 100 of IndieDB’s GOTY charts (thanks!), but now we need you to go vote again because apparently there is a second round of voting and this time it counts even more. I don’t understand it either, but if you click this green, circular, buttonish image below and then click the red box that says “TOP 100 OF 2011″ you can click the VOTE button next to SpaceChem and then we’ll be number one!
The IndieDB website is running an “Indie of the Year” contest, with nomination voting open for the next ten days. We at Zachtronics Industries firmly believe that any publicity is good publicity, so go ahead and vote for us by clicking the big green buttony-thing below if you feel we deserve it!
We’re giving away free, permanent site licenses of SpaceChem to schools for the next two months, for use in problem solving, programming, chemistry, and engineering courses. If you or any educators you know are interested, please email zach@zachtronicsindustries.com to sign up!
