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Strategy and hints (Read 11552 times)
Yariv
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Strategy and hints
Dec 9th, 2004 at 11:03am
 
So what tricks do you have for improving your times?
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Yariv
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Re: Strategy and hints
Reply #1 - Dec 13th, 2004 at 11:04am
 
A cryptic hint for the current tournament (no. 3): Blue! Wink
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Stephan
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Re: Strategy and hints
Reply #2 - Dec 14th, 2004 at 7:25pm
 
I neither understand your hint nor can I really believe that any of those 3 seconds are real. There are 54 squares to open - in 3 seconds means 18 squares per second  ???

To repeat to the general topic: The best tricks are practising and memorizing patterns...
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Re: Strategy and hints
Reply #3 - Dec 14th, 2004 at 8:04pm
 
Okay, I have to correct myself. There was only one real possibility what the hint could mean - helped me to improve from 9 to 4 seconds Smiley
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Kire
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Re: Strategy and hints
Reply #4 - Feb 11th, 2005 at 2:32pm
 
Hi Stephan,Hi guys!
I think my beg(2s) and int(34s) times are decent,but for some reason my exp(190) is really poor Cry
Can anyone help me with some tips or the only way to improve my times is practising and memorizing patterns...  Wink
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Stephan
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Re: Strategy and hints
Reply #5 - Feb 12th, 2005 at 11:42am
 
@Kire: There isn't a real strategy. It's mostly a matter of getting used to the mine density on expert games.

I just can recommend to watch the video available on my website. Maybe you'll see some difference between your and my expert playing style?!
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hexx
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Re: Strategy and hints
Reply #6 - Apr 30th, 2005 at 5:33pm
 
Yes, i have developed a new Intermediate strategy.  
The idea came up last weekend, after checked out my 16.50s to see if it would be possible to achieve 15s.  
My conclusion was, YES, it is possible. But only if i don't flag at all!!!!!!
The results couldn't be more brilliant:
1x14s (14.09);
7x15s (15.03, 15.20, 15.31, 15.53, 15.68 and 2x15.76);
12x16s
Man, my Intermediate scores dropped more than 25%.
And there is room to improvement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Hexx Intermediate strategy

If you are an absolute beginner, go practice for a couple of weeks in order to improve pattern recognition and sweeping skills.
Those who have some Intermediate experience can and should adopt this strategy. However i must warn you that non-flagging and fast sweeping at the same time is not an easy task, only top sweepers can perform it successfully.

FLAG METHOD
- Non-flagged.
Never flag.  
I used to face flagging as an investment. Present day, i'm absolutely sure that is time wasting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Don't forget that all is needed is to sweep 36 unmined boxes, which means 36 clicks in the worst possible scenario. Fortunately many unmined boxes are placed together so 24/26 clicks is the usual and a very easy grid can be finished in less than 20 clicks. (17 on my 14.09)
 
STEP 1 -
Sweep edges.
Place mouse cursor at right bottom corner and sweep all edges counterclockwisely.
TIPS:
1- At this stage, guessing is the rule to follow and use it to change non-easy to perfect patterns*. Every time you have to guess do it always after the first mined block. (see screenshot green ovals and the magnificent 15.31s example)
2- Avoid thinking.
   
STEP 2 -
Sweep rows horizontally.
Start at lower rows using left-right sweeping in order to finish the puzzle at the top of the grid.
The main goal at this stage is to find out where easy patterns and large unmined blocks** are. (see screenshot red ovals)
TIPS:
1- Use row edges to extract information.  
1.1. Mined row edges.
1.1.1. Edge mined in a row with 1 mined block. ( e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5).
What can be easier than this situation, just sweep the large unmined block.
(see Stephan's 19s screenshot, it is an extraordinary example and the easiest Intermediate board i've ever seen!!!!)
1.1.2. Both edges mined in a row with 2 mined blocks. (e.g. 1-2, 2-3, 4-1, etc...)
Another easy pattern, just sweep in between mined blocks.
1.2. Swept row edges.
1.2.1.  1 edge swept in a row.  
The patterns 7-1, 6-2, 5-3, 5-1-1, 4-2-1, 3-3-1, 3-2- 2, 3-1-1-1, 2-2-1-1 and 1-1-1-1-1 become perfect* under this circumstances. (It happens many times)  
1.2.2. Both edges swept in a row.
The patterns 6-1, 5-2, 4-3, 4-1-1, 3-2-1, 2-2-2 and 2-1-1-1 also become perfect*. (It happens some times)
2- Think, but not that much because the clock is ticking.
3- If you face a difficult pattern use vertical large mined blocks to guide sweeping. (see screenshot yellow ovals)
4- Avoid vertically and "swinging"/random sweeping.
5- Keep a regular sweeping pace. Never stop, if necessary use guessing as your last option.
6- Never go back. The field left behind should be clean.

*

General tips:  

Pattern recognition - Learn as many patterns as you can. They allow you to finish more games in less time.  
Sweeping skills - If you want to manage very fast time solving, improve your sweeping skills by reducing the number of mouse left-clicks. All you have to do is to keep left button down when you sweep an unmied block.  
Grid visualization - Never see all grid at the same time. Focus your attention on a small part of the board.  
Ignore column numbers - If you reach at step 2 successfully in an easy grid, usually the clues given by row numbers are enough to solve the puzzle.
*

Terminology

Perfect patterns*- When you know where all mines are.
Large unmined blocks** - At least with 5 boxes.
*

VIDEO

If a picture's worth a thousand words, then a video must be worth one million!
15.68sec video link (note: click mouse right button and choose save target as....)
http://www.free-webspace.biz/nonosw/1568.avi
CODEC link
http://www.getafile.com/cgi-bin/merlot/get/techsmith/tscc/TSCC.exe
*

Word version

If you want a Word version of this post click in the next link:
(note: click mouse right button and choose save destiny as....) :
http://www.free-webspace.biz/nonosw/HexxIntermediatestrategy.doc
*

SCREENSHOTS


       Ideal move and sweeping path.  
         
          14.09 , my best score.


...    ...


Edge guessing examples.


......


Sweeping large unmined blocks.


......
......


Using vertical large mined blocks.


......
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« Last Edit: Mar 29th, 2006 at 1:53pm by hexx »  
 
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Roliamant
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Re: Strategy and hints
Reply #7 - May 3rd, 2005 at 3:36pm
 
Hey Hexx, congrats for your brilliant improvement and thanks for sharing the insight. I've tried playing as you said, but have no chance with it. Fastest I could finish was 42secs.  Undecided Aren't there way too much guesses with those large unmined blocks? And what if the "left-right-sweeping" is not clearly solvable? Am I still a top sweeper? Sad Oh, and I'm curious, Luca, if you achieved your 17s with the new method. Happy sweeping everyone...
Roli
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Luca
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Re: Strategy and hints
Reply #8 - May 3rd, 2005 at 4:29pm
 
Hi Roland, hi all

yes, I achieved four 17 (best 17,11) and I missed because of the mouse a 16.
But I don't think I would go under 16
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hexx
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Re: Strategy and hints
Reply #9 - May 5th, 2005 at 10:45am
 
Howdy, Roland.

It was 42s or 24s!!!!!!!!!
I think i know what is happening. You have no non-flagging experience. For me it was so easy to adopt the new tactic because i used it to solve T8 and T10 (season 2). The recepi i recomend you is practising, because practice makes perfect.
Don't forget that you only need to sweep 36 unmined boxes, which means 36 clicks in the worst possible scenario.
Fortunately many unmined boxes are placed together so 24/26 clicks is the usual and a very easy grid can be finished in less than 20 clicks (17 in my 14.09).

Guessing, at step 2  is an option and a double-edged sword. I rarely use it, i prefer to think a little bit more (not that much of course) and use large mined blocks to guide sweeping.
I also use edge swept unmined boxes at step 2, in the next patterns because they become "perfect" under this circumstances (this happens many times) :

1 edge swept in a row - 7-1, 6-2, 5-3, 5-1-1, 4-2-1, 3-3-1, 3-2-2, 3-1-1-1, 2-2-1-1 and 1-1-1-1-1

both edges swept in a row - 6-1, 5-2, 4-1-1, 3-2-1, 2-2-2 and 2-1-1-1.

One final advice: if you reach at step 2 successfully in a easy grid, the clues given by row numbers are enough to solve the puzzle (it is like Beginner level, no one cares about column numbers!!!).
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« Last Edit: Jun 15th, 2005 at 8:35am by hexx »  
 
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Jon
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Re: Strategy and hints
Reply #10 - May 13th, 2005 at 11:09pm
 
It seems that my notion of playing intermediate without flags wasn't a bad idea after all. A good job to come up with that solving procedure, hexx. Maybe I should try this next time on intermediate.
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Jon
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Re: Strategy and hints
Reply #11 - May 15th, 2005 at 8:00am
 
I tried the non-flagging technique, and it works even better than expected 8)
I only played a little more than an hour, and got my 2nd highest score ever with 22 seconds. Just a minute later I tied my personal record of 21 seconds. I finally believe I can sub-20 soon.
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Luca
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Re: Strategy and hints
Reply #12 - May 15th, 2005 at 5:34pm
 
where is Jon's post?
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Luca
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Re: Strategy and hints
Reply #13 - May 15th, 2005 at 5:39pm
 
Jon,
why don't you play tournaments
I think you could do very good times
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Re: Strategy and hints
Reply #14 - May 15th, 2005 at 7:21pm
 
@Luca: I've been a little lazy, and haven't upgraded my Pro-version yet. I think I'll soon be ready to participate. I'm working on it
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hexx
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Re: Strategy and hints
Reply #15 - Jun 9th, 2005 at 4:24pm
 
Hi guys,
It's me again, with a new "strange tactics". (Luca's words in a private message)
But first a few words:
1) This explanation task is not as easy as intermediate was, anyway i'm doing my best.
2) The key point of this strategy is: "Avoid swinging". Swing is the public enemy nș1 of any sweeper and with such a grid configuration it is so easy do it!!!!! The best weapons to avoid swinging are:
            a- Flag horizontally and sweep vertically, in order to perform the shortest possible path.
            b- Flag and sweep sectors. Once they are finished you don't need to go there anymore!!!!!
3) Be patient, fast scores like 61s, 62s ... will appear around day 5 or 6.
4) Feel free to make any comments and suggestions about this post.

Hexx Expert strategy


FLAG METHOD
- Flagged.
I think this is obvious, the low mine density (50%) makes virtually impossible a fast non-flagged or flagged/non-flagged strategy.
Flag all mines except the last ones.(I left out only the last 3 or 4 mines when i managed 55.37)

STEP 1 -
Sweep and flag right sector.
It is the most important step. The advantage of starting at this sector is that it is easier to see clues given by numbers, in other words, it has the most potential. Present day, i recommend less than 20s to perform this step.(see missed 14s screenshot, my best right sector performance)
Place the mouse cursor at right bottom corner and start moving using a combination of horizontal flagging(rows) and vertical sweeping(columns) according to this sequence:
A) Sweep right edge and the adjacent unmined box of the first mined block at top edge.
B) Move back, flag edged mines revealed in A, including the first mined block at bottom edge and then sweep it's adjacent unmined box.
C) From bottom to top, flag horizontally the first mined block of each row that have an right edged mine and/or sweep it's adjacent unmined box. Note- In the below screenshot, the mined blocks that have an right edged are marked with a grey square.
D) Flag and/or sweep right columns from right to left.

...

DEMO VIDEOS
See these demo videos of STEP 1
(note: press right button and then choose save target as....)
http://www.free-webspace.biz/nonosw/expert.zip

TIPS:
1- VERY IMPORTANT, look at the board's left edge at the time you finish A, if you find out a perfect pattern like 7-2-1, 5-3-2, 3-2-2-2 etc... (best scenario) or an easy one with a large mined block like 10, 8-2, 7-2, 5-5 etc..., you should move to left sector at the end of STEP1 and repeat STEP1(mirrored).
2- C and D are vital to the success of this strategy, so make sure you flag horizontally from bottom to top and sweep vertically from right to left. (Otherwise you are swinging!)
3- C and D can be done at the same time.
4- Think at C and D.
5- Keep doing C and D as long as you can, even at STEP 2. (note: It is possible to finish the game this way!!!!!!, but it doesn't happen so often).
6- In A use guessing when you have patterns like 7-3, 5-5, 6-2-1, 3-3-3, 4-2-1-1 and so on...
7- If you get stuck in the middle of STEP 1 and there is a perfect pattern at the left edge, don't think twice, just move to left sector immediately!
8- Pattern recognition is always useful.
9- Make sure that the field left behind has no unmined boxes to be revealed.


STEP 2 -
Sweep and flag center and left sectors.
This area should be a square or something close to it. Due to its "symmetry" it is possible to avoid swinging.(see missed 24s screenshot)
At this stage, there is no special tactics.

TIPS
1- At left sector, use TIP 1 of STEP 1.(very important)
2- At center sector, keep using C and D as new mined blocks are being revealed. It is not rare to "clean-up" all center sector this way.
3- Get mine position info by using top and bottom edges and pattern recognition.
4- Pay attention to simple patterns like 2-1, 3-2, 2-1-1, 3,  etc.. because sometimes they are already flagged, all you have to do is to sweep.
5- Avoid guessing or at least use it as last option.
*


SCREENSHOTS


Ideal path at step 1

...
         

Missed games at STEP 1.


......


Missed games at STEP 2.


......

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« Last Edit: Mar 29th, 2006 at 1:57pm by hexx »  
 
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Re: Strategy and hints
Reply #16 - Sep 9th, 2005 at 7:46am
 
As hexx said: "Feel free to make any comments and suggestions about this post." (he's talking of Exp strategy)

In his nice explanation he says, start always at bottom right corner.
In my opinion you loose too much good games if you only look at the right part of the board. So I stay always with my mouse in the middle of the board and look for columns at both sides which fill up the whole column or nearly everything. If for example 3-2-2-1 appears I also try, by guessing, to play this game.
When I looked at the screenshots of my sub-60's (I have 11 of them right now), nearly every game was started at leftbottom corner.

That's why I think, in contrast to hexx, to start at left bottom corner is faster. Because the end is normally more complex to solve than the beginning. So when you end your game on the right side, where the numbers for the rows stand right beside your sweeping place, it's easier to end the game fast. All information are close to you, so you don't have to look over the half screen to see how you have to sweep, when you end at left side of the board.
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