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Tomorrow Corp announces 7 Billion Humans (sequel to HRM) Switch/PC
- Thread starter Bandage
- Start date
Love a good programming game. HRM wasn't quite there - an awful lot of the puzzles were basically 'implement this common algorithm' (and an awful lot of the cycle optimisations were 'unroll things to a frankly silly extent'), but introducing parallelism inherently is going to make things rather interesting.
I need to go back to HRM at some point. I got about 80% of the way through and then got slightly overwhelmed / couldn't be arsed to figure out the lengthier problems. I enjoyed the game but it did start to cross the line between a game and real work.
My thoughts exactly. Even so, despite how introductory it was, I enjoyed blasting through HRM to 100% just as a kind of self-debugging exercise book (the feedback mechanisms are really what make that game work), and it was incredibly comfortable to play on the Switch tablet-style with the Joy-Cons off. This is a likely day-one pickup for me: Tomorrow Corp. is one of only a handful of studios I'll say that about blind, and I prefer programming puzzles conceptually over the likes of Little Inferno. I just hope there's a little more this time for advanced or computer-literate players out of the gate.
That trailer is so great. How is the Switch version of human resource machine? Never played it but it sounds like it's up my alley.
Incidentally, this is one game where they really do need to be on the ball with Switch icon standards this time around, just to distinguish it from the one ripped from iOS for HRM.
This game will no doubt launch on mobile at some point, as all of their touch-friendly titles do, but it's nice to see the Switch right alongside the PC as a lead platform at launch.
This game will no doubt launch on mobile at some point, as all of their touch-friendly titles do, but it's nice to see the Switch right alongside the PC as a lead platform at launch.
OP
OP
Its good but touch screen only, which I'm not a huge fan of. I think it plays better on a tablet.
HRM is an interesting game in that it's probably too hard if you have no programming knowledge and too easy if you do. That said, I still had fun with it so I'll check this out.
why? if you follow the thin lore, all the games are in the same universe
I'd tend to agree, but I still had fun with it. It's not a hardcore programming game like TIS-100 or something like that, but it was still good for a few hours of fun.
I played half of HRM, felt overwhelmed by the puzzles and hated the fact that the short code solution wasn't the one that used less power or cycles or whatever.
I love efficient code writing, but apparently it makes processes slower.
I'm no programmer at all, I like puzzle games, and my only programming experience is mostly MatLab (some Maple too), and what I like most of having efficient code, comments everywhere, and everything color coded and properly indented.
Clearly I'm not fit to be a programmer.
I love efficient code writing, but apparently it makes processes slower.
I'm no programmer at all, I like puzzle games, and my only programming experience is mostly MatLab (some Maple too), and what I like most of having efficient code, comments everywhere, and everything color coded and properly indented.
Clearly I'm not fit to be a programmer.
When you say short, do you mean in terms of lines of code or the number of processor cycles?
In terms of lines of code.
To me that's the puzzle.
Having to copy paste codes over and over to be more cycle efficient is a waste of time in my mind, when the problem is already solved.
That's why I would be a terrible programmer with clean codes, lol.
I'd be interested to hear about 7 Billion Humans from anyone picking it up this week on PC, as I'll be waiting for the Switch port, which is undated but supposedly coming next.
To clarify what's in the game (I played HRM to 100% with all bonus objectives when it launched as one of the earliest indie ports to the Switch), every puzzle in HRM has two bonus objectives, a benchmark for "fewest lines of code" and one for "fewest steps executed". The latter often involves duplicating a lot of code to catch edge cases and avoid needless jump/goto instructions. You often have to achieve these goals separately as you get into the later puzzles, as sometimes there isn't a feasible solution that meets both benchmarks at once, but that's why the game lets you save three scripts per puzzle.
That's the trade-off involved in all programming, really, and why most day-to-day consumer-facing programming takes place in high-level languages rather than assembly—easy to read, easy to maintain, at the cost of computational inefficiencies that don't really matter with the computing power we have on modern devices. It's a totally different story if you are working close to the metal (on a micro scale where every instruction counts due to considerations like power consumption or limited memory—precisely what HRM was designed to teach) or on a gigantic scale where inefficiencies really stack up on you.
Readability to humans vs. efficient processing is always the balance you have to strike, and HRM drums this into your head quite elegantly. Most coders never think about the latter.
You'd do quite well in something like Python or Java (where tidy, readable, non-redundant, well-organized code will make you many, many friends). Just stay away from microprocessors or low-power electronics.
To clarify what's in the game (I played HRM to 100% with all bonus objectives when it launched as one of the earliest indie ports to the Switch), every puzzle in HRM has two bonus objectives, a benchmark for "fewest lines of code" and one for "fewest steps executed". The latter often involves duplicating a lot of code to catch edge cases and avoid needless jump/goto instructions. You often have to achieve these goals separately as you get into the later puzzles, as sometimes there isn't a feasible solution that meets both benchmarks at once, but that's why the game lets you save three scripts per puzzle.
That's the trade-off involved in all programming, really, and why most day-to-day consumer-facing programming takes place in high-level languages rather than assembly—easy to read, easy to maintain, at the cost of computational inefficiencies that don't really matter with the computing power we have on modern devices. It's a totally different story if you are working close to the metal (on a micro scale where every instruction counts due to considerations like power consumption or limited memory—precisely what HRM was designed to teach) or on a gigantic scale where inefficiencies really stack up on you.
Readability to humans vs. efficient processing is always the balance you have to strike, and HRM drums this into your head quite elegantly. Most coders never think about the latter.
You'd do quite well in something like Python or Java (where tidy, readable, non-redundant, well-organized code will make you many, many friends). Just stay away from microprocessors or low-power electronics.
Optimized code can be horrifying to look at, which is why that's usually the last step before shipping.
I write code, and was initially disappointed that Tomorrow Corp made another programming game. Don't get me wrong -- this is definitely more HRM -- but I like it much more. Never had any assembly experience, so that game's syntax mainly served to frustrate me with its limitations.
7BH has regular-ass if/else statements which can be easily nested! The levels are more interesting than input/output conveyor belts and tedious memory management. Really like how you have multiple spatially aware workers crawling through a level, each using the same code, so you ultimately need a solution that works for all of them. At times it has given me a Lemmings vibe. 9/10 workers make their way to the end, but some subtle edge-case caused the 10th one to screw up so you have to debug. Am early, but having fun so far.
7BH has regular-ass if/else statements which can be easily nested! The levels are more interesting than input/output conveyor belts and tedious memory management. Really like how you have multiple spatially aware workers crawling through a level, each using the same code, so you ultimately need a solution that works for all of them. At times it has given me a Lemmings vibe. 9/10 workers make their way to the end, but some subtle edge-case caused the 10th one to screw up so you have to debug. Am early, but having fun so far.
love their games, even if i didn't finish human resource machine. i got it on my phone, gotta download again and restart.
but their style is starting to look a bit stale, wish they tried something new.
but their style is starting to look a bit stale, wish they tried something new.
This is out today on Switch. I may not get to it right away as I'm not even through with Mega Man 11 yet, but I'll likely have a few things to say about it when I do, for the benefit of those curious. With Human Resource Machine it was difficult to find a good, informed perspective ahead of time on what to expect in terms of complexity and difficulty, and after playing the game myself I often found myself answering that query for others. I imagine the situation will be similar with 7BH, where, from what I hear, the scripting takes place at a high level of abstraction that will be more familiar to most players than assembly, but the actual problems/algorithms to be implemented are more involved.