Test of the Pathmaker

Overview

Design a miniature system of aqueduct towers, and challenge other to connect them in a loop. Living mossy towers (green) require the pipe to pass straight through, but turn adjacent. Dead (black) towers require the pipe to turn in place, but extend straight.

Principles

The Test and Principles can be started from a University of Thought at level 6.

Principles of the Pathmaker will lead you through making one of each type of item needed to build a Pathmaker. Of course, you may trade for the materials, bypassing all of those steps.

• Dig a Cuttable Stone at a Hole
• Cut a Stone on a Rock Saw
• Cut a Hexas Plate Amethyst
• Cut a Looking Glass Jade
• Cut a Symmetry Turquoise
• Cut a Dragyn's Eye Citrine
• Mine a Huge Diamond
• Mine a Medium Topaz
• Mine Silver
• Build a Pathmaker
• Open your design for Judging
• Tear down your Pathmaker, OR do the following:
  • Have 7 Judges solve and rate your Pathmaker
  • Design rated Good by most judges
• All of the above, OR solve three recent winning Pathmakers

Demonstrate the Principle

• 2 Hexas Plate cut Amethyst
• 2 Dragyn's Eye cut Citrine
• 2 Huge Diamond
• 10 Medium Topaz
• 100 Silver Wire

Demonstrated by McArine in Shabbat Ab on 09-03-22.

Designing a Puzzle

Cost to build a Pathmaker is:

• 300 Cut Stone
• 3 Hexas Plate cut Amethyst
• 3 Looking Glass cut Jade
• 2 Symmetry cut Turquoise
• 1 Dragyn's Eye cut Citrine
• 2 Huge Diamond
• 12 Medium Topaz
• 60 Silver Wire

Solving a Puzzle

The test description isn't very clear about the rules. Here's some clarification.

A Pathmaker puzzle is played on a two-dimensional grid. Initially, each square either contains a black tower, green tower, or is empty.

You may place pipe segments on a square, including squares containing a tower, by clicking on the square. Clicking on a square again cycles through the possible pipe options for that square:

• Straight pipe, top-to-bottom.
• Straight pipe, left-to-right.
• Pipe with a 90 degree bend (4 possible orientations).

The object of the puzzle is to join all towers into a single closed loop, while obeying these rules:

• All pipes must connect up correctly to adjacent squares
• You may only have one pipe segment per square, i.e. you cannot have a "cross" pipe.
• Pipes on a square with a green tower must be straight.
• Pipes on a square with a black tower must be a 90 degree bend.
• One of the pipes connected immediately adjacent to a green tower must be a 90 degree bend. (Note: the rules only require one of the two to be a bend, but both can be bends if you like).
• The two pipes connected immediately adjacent to a black tower must be straight.

The Pathmaker will not let you place pipes that violate these rules.

=== Pathmaker Locations ==={| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1"" |- ! Location !! Designer !! Has passed |- | Shabbat Ab || || |- | 1472, 1998 || McArine || No |}

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