[Fog of War] The Dark Forest
(Published on 11. December 2022, 22:20 by KevinTheMH)
The universe is a dark forest. Every civilization is an armed hunter stalking through the trees like a ghost, gently pushing aside branches that block the path and trying to tread without sound. Even breathing is done with care. The hunter has to be careful, because everywhere in the forest are stealthy hunters like him. If he finds other life—another hunter, an angel or a demon, a delicate infant or a tottering old man, a fairy or a demigod—there’s only one thing he can do: open fire and eliminate them. In this forest, hell is other people. An eternal threat that any life that exposes its own existence will be swiftly wiped out. This is the picture of cosmic civilization.
This puzzle is inspired by The Dark Forest written by Liu Cixin. It is one of my favorite sci-fi so far, and this puzzle is just my negligible tribute to the magnificent universe imagery presented in the novel
Ruleset without those fancy terms related to the novel
1. Normal sudoku rules apply
2. There is 1 radar cell in each box. Except for the two radar cells colored in grey which are not affected by all rules below, every radar cell indexes the relative octane number (refer to the example) of the closest not-grey radar cell from it that has not been indexed, and does not result in violating any other rules
The positions of the radar cells (including grey radars) follow the anti-queen rule. Two radars cannot index each other, and each radar can only be indexed once
3. The circles in the grid are the starts (big) and the tips (small) of arrows, and the tips are diagonally or orthogonally connected to the indexed radar. The trace of the arrows must be determined by the solver. Arrows cannot overlap
The circle of an arrow must contain the starting point, but the starting point does not necessarily make up the entire circle (i.e. you can also form a two-digit circle containing the starting point)
An arrow circle can only pass one orthogonally or diagonally connected cells of its belonging radar
4. Every arrow is colored with the same color as its belonging radar cell. The arrow must pass through all orthogonally connected cells of the radar cell that its belonging radar is indicated
5. The grid is covered by the fog, with some other constraints hidden
Accessing links:
PS: I personally recommend using the white background with better observation convenience
An example of relative octant index:
The cell marked by A represents the indexing radar, and the indexed radar must fall into any of the 8 octants centered in the A cell. The digit A itself is the index of the octant that the indexed radar locates
An example of arrows and radars:
1. Normal sudoku rules apply
2. 9 planet cells are scattered in the grid, one in each box; their positions satisfy the anti-queen rule. Each planet is colored distinctly (Note that there are two gray planets in the grid). The eight cells orthogonally and diagonally connected to a planet are collectively called its reign
3. The digit in a planet cell indicates the relative octant index of its closest planet (referred to as the relative coordinate), known as a broadcast. Two planets can never broadcast each other. This rule does not apply to the grey planets
4. Not-gray planet cells will attack its broadcasting planet via arrows. The starts (big circles) and the tips (small circles) of all arrows are given and are colored to indicate their ownership planets. The starting points are contained in the arrow circles but do not necessarily make up the circle itself; an arrow circle can only occupy one cell in the planet's reign. Two arrows can never touch or cross each other
5. An arrow must wrap up its target planet to form an attack, i.e. cover all reigns orthogonally connected to the target planet. The digits on the arrow bodies sum up to the number in the arrow circle (if the arrow circle contains more than 1 cell, then the number is read from left to right, top to bottom)
6. More rules are hidden in the fog of the unknown
Solution code: Row 9 and column 6
Comments
on 15. December 2022, 06:34 by KevinTheMH
Revised the rule*3
on 15. December 2022, 06:33 by KevinTheMH
Revised the rule*2
on 15. December 2022, 06:29 by KevinTheMH
Revised the rules
on 13. December 2022, 13:32 by erml
Trying to get my head around the rules. One doubt left. Quote: "An arrow, except for its starting point, cannot pass through any orthogonally or diagonally connected cells of its belonging radar". This rule. imho, makes the starting grid impossible, because the tip of the arrow is in the reign of the belonging radar cell. The original ruleset, however, says, that an arrow can only occupy 1 cell of its planet reign, which would be ok. Maybe there is an error in the new rules? Or am I missing something?
on 12. December 2022, 08:12 by KevinTheMH
revised the rules
on 12. December 2022, 05:04 by KevinTheMH
fixed an html issue
on 12. December 2022, 05:01 by KevinTheMH
Added another example grid for further clarification
on 12. December 2022, 04:32 by KevinTheMH
To henrypijames:
Sorry about this, I just wanted to make some references to the novel that I have mentioned before. A more clear ruleset is added, and I will soon work on an example grid for further clarification
To erml:
I think the original ruleset was correct. I was trying to get rid of the conception of the reign and perhaps made some mistakes. Thanks for pointing out
on 12. December 2022, 04:29 by KevinTheMH
Added a new ruleset without any reference to the novel
on 12. December 2022, 02:56 by henrypijames
The ruleset introduces at least half a dozen terms without explaining them. I have no idea what rule 3, 4, 5, or the example graphic mean - in fact, a detailed listing of everything I don't understand would probably be longer then the current ruleset.
on 11. December 2022, 23:48 by KevinTheMH
Fixed an error in the solution code
on 11. December 2022, 22:24 by KevinTheMH
Fixed the answer check within the puzzle links
