About the Puzzle
The Su DoKube is an entirely new form of Su Doku puzzle. (If you don't know
what a Su Doku puzzle is, then click here before reading
any further.) It presents a new challenge to experienced players of Su Dokus
and an alternative starting point to newcomers.
This is a 3D version of a classic Su Doku puzzle — the squares are drawn
on the faces of a cube instead of in a 2D grid. The logic is mostly identical
to a 2D Su Doku puzzle, but instead of rows, columns and minigrids we use faces,
and hoops. The faces are simple — each of the six sides of the cube contains
16 boxes, which must have contain each number from 1-16 exactly once on each
side. The "hoops" are more complicated — the rows and columns
fold around the cube, eventualy forming a complete loop around the cube. There
are 12 hoops, running in 3 different directions, as shown:
Each hoop contains the numbers 1-16 exactly once.
Don't worry if all that seems daunting — you'll pick it up fairly quickly
and the software has several features to help you along. It generally takes
me almost exactly one hour to complete a SuDoKube puzzle.
Differences from 2D Su Doku
The key difference between playing a Su DoKube puzzle and a traditional Su
Doku is the effects of having an opposite face. Since any face will be covered
by the same hoops as the opposite face, having a number on one will, for example,
rule out a row and a column on the other. Another difference is that
a 2D Su Doku can be make with a grid any size (except prime numbers), whereas
a Su DoKube must necessarily be 4x4x4.
About the Software
Getting Started
To install the game, simply unzip all files into the same folder. You may then place shortcuts to
sudokube.exe wherever you like on your start menu, desktop, quicklaunch, etc.
When you first run the programme, you will be presented with three options:
Start game, Select game, and Load game. Start game will generate a puzzle and
display it for you to solve. Select game will allow you to input a number —
this will be used to generate a puzzle. Inputting the same number will always
produce the same puzzle. (The ID number of the current puzzle can be found by
selecting "status" from the puzzle menu.) Load game will allow you
to load a puzzle saved previously, including any progress you made solving it.
Solving The Puzzle
This tells you how to use the software —to learn how to play the game
itself, see above.
Each face of the cube is a different colour, to simplify navigation. The puzzle
will appear with the black face facing you. Pressing the arrow keys rotates
the cube. This can also be done by dragging the cube with the mouse. The six
coloured grid buttons on the toolbar will rotate directly to the six coloured
faces of the cube. Once you think you have found a number, right click or press
enter (or return) to bring up a screen which will allow you to type it in. If
you have only one face displayed then the input screen will automatically select
that face, though you can select any face from the drop-down munu at the top.
Pressing enter again (or clicking OK) will enter your guesses onto the 3D cube.
To check this answer, go to the view menu and select "highlight mistakes".
Any squares that light up red have been filled incorrectly.
If you can't find anything to fill in, then you can ask the programme to give
you a hint. This will fill in a random square on the cube. Frequently this will
allow you to fill in some more squares yourself — although it is always
possible to solve the puzzle without getting any hints, and hints will count
against you on the high-scores table.
When you think you have solved the puzzle, you can click "check answers"
from the toolbar or puzzle menu and the software will tell you if you have solved
the puzzle correctly and, if you have, how long you took. The best times are
recorded on the high score table. If, on the other hand, you make a total hash
of it, the "clear answers" button (or menu item) will allow you to
delete all your guesses and start the puzzle again, and the "view answers"
button will show you the completed puzzle. If you cannot solve the entire puzzle
in one sitting, you can save your progress and pick up from where you left off
later. Time between saving and loading is not included in the time reported
when you complete the puzzle. (Many of these options can, of course, be used
to cheat, but since the high-score table does nothing but fuel your own ego
anyway there's very little point in doing that.) You can check your current
time and number of hints used on the status screen.
If you would prefer to solve the puzzle in a more traditional way then the
"puzzle" menu contains an option to produce a net. This will create
an HTML file which you can then print in your preferred browser, and fold into
a cube. A little glue, a pair of scissors, and adult supervision is all you
need to make your own 3D paper puzzle, which can be solved at your leisure.
(Printing onto thin card makes a more durable puzzle.)
You also have the option of playing with letters instead of numbers —
this is accessed using the view menu. If you find Su DoKube too difficult, there
is an Easy Mode accessible by the puzzle menu. When you are in easy mode (as
shown by a tick next to it on the menu), any puzzles generated will require
less advanced logic and have extra clues in them.
Registration
The software can be registered at http://sudokube.freeownhost.com.
Troubleshooting
If the programme generates a "file not found" error on startup, then
check the directory reported in the error box. If this is the directory the
programme is installed to then one of the files may be missing of corrupted.
If it is another directory then that usually means the shortcut you ran the
game from has its working directory set up incorrectly. This can be fixed manually
or by replacing it with a new shortcut.
In the (highly unlikely) event that the message "Error" appears when
you click "new puzzle" this means that the puzzle generation failed.
click the button again to try again.
"OpenGL errors" mean that the software failed to initialise the 3D
routines. This may be fixable by updating your drivers or downloading a newer
version of OpenGL.
About Su Doku
A SuDoku puzzle is a grid, usually nine squares by nine. It is divided into nine
smaller grids, and "clue" numbers are placed in some (but not all) of
the squares, as shown:
The player's job is to place the remaining numbers in the grid according to
the following rules:
- Every row and column must contain every number from 1 to 9.
- Every smaller 3x3 grid must contain every number from 1 to 9.
For example, in the above puzzle, we can place an 8 in the central 3x3 grid.
We know that grid must contain an 8 because of rule 2, and the eights above
and below the box rule out any of the spaces in the left two columns. That leaves
the two space above the four — and the top one cannot be an eight because
that row already contains an eight (on the far right). Therefore the eight must
go immediately above the four.
The complete solution can be found from similar logic, and is as follows:
Su Doku has become almost ridiculously popular in Britain recently, and puzzles
can be found in almost every newspaper.
Contacting Andrew Taylor
Andrew Taylor can be reached at sudokube@gmail.com or via http://apathy.freeownhost.com.