Number Place Generator Version 1.0 – Operation Manual
Operational Buttons
Setup
Push this button to enter “Setup” mode and begin laying out your game board. You may select whether a square is a hint square or not by clicking the square with your mouse. You will be unable to edit hint squares in any other mode.
Generate
Push this button to automatically generate a puzzle from the currently placed hint squares. If you have selected a suitable layout for the hint squares, this process should complete almost instantaneously. The generator will then display the finished puzzle. The amount of time needed to generate a puzzle will vary with the layout of the puzzle and the effectiveness of the program’s random number generator.
The program displays the number of iterations and amount of time (in milliseconds) needed to generate a puzzle at the top left of the screen next to the “Clear All” button.
Ex:
| 1 times / 31 msec | Generated in 1 iteration over 31 milliseconds. |
| 0 times / 0 msec | Succeeded with initial data, generation unnecessary. |
| 15 times / 375 msec | Generated in 15 iterations over 375 milliseconds |
The program may continue generating indefinitely if the hint squares have not been suitably placed. In this case, press the “Stop” button to stop generating.
Play
Push the “Play” button to play the generated puzzle. You may remove the check from the “Hint” check box to display the puzzle in a manner similar to that of puzzles found in books, magazines, or other print sources. Pushing the “Play” button will delete any non-hint numbers from the board and jump immediately into playing the game.
Note that the “Play” mode has no other functions aside from allowing the user to enter numbers into the white spaces. “Play” mode will not check answers nor confirm that rules have been followed.
Stop
Push “Stop” to stop further execution of the program. You may stop execution while the program is generating a puzzle in “Generate” mode or while demonstrating the program with the “Auto” function (explained below).
Auto
Push this button to enter demonstration mode and continuously generate new puzzles. The program will automatically determine a layout for the hint squares, generate a puzzle, and display the generated puzzle for 1 second before restarting the process. Use the “Stop” button when you would like to end the demo, otherwise the program will run indefinitely.
Auto mode will attempt to generate a puzzle from each hint square pattern for 10 seconds before deleting the current hints and starting anew, thereby skipping over any pattern that cannot generate a puzzle.
Solve
Push this button to have the system solve the puzzle displayed on the game board with the system’s internal solver. It will then display the results.
The internal solver is not a complete solver in the sense that it will not solve all solvable puzzles. The solver is designed for use with this automatic generation program and is unsuitable for determining whether other puzzles are solvable or not. However, we do believe that the solver is capable of solving most puzzles.