Robo Instructus

I like this game, but there are certain design decisions that make it so I can't recommend it. [list] [*]I have played many programming games (Human Resource Machine, TIS-100, Exapunks, Etc.) and have been programming in my free time and professionally for the past 8 years. I found the difficulty curve in this game to be very steep. By itself this isn't [i]too[/i] big of an issue, and is certainly preferable to all the games I've played that were easy the whole way through, but it turns into a problem when coupled with the next point. [*]With the exception of sometimes having a set of 2 available at the same time, there is no ability to skip levels if you're stuck (and if you do have multiple available, you have to beat all of them before any new ones unlock). So what happens when you get to a level you can't figure out? Well you either look up a solution online or... you just stop playing. I chose to quit last time I played this many months ago and I just came back to it to give it another shot now, but hey I actually beat those 2 levels I was stuck on before! Only to get stuck again after beating a third level... [*]The launch pads. If there are launch pads in the level, every portion of your code [i]has[/i] to be mindful of their existence, because they will automatically launch your robot (potentially to its death) if it lingers on them for more than a few lines of code (not exaggerating). This really sucks, and it feels like it was put in specifically to make it so you have to accommodate for edge cases in every part of your code to make sure the robot doesn't get killed while it's in the middle of performing some other routine. My solution would be to make the launch pads activate with the robo_use() function, so they can be treated like normal tiles if you just need to walk over them. [/list] Like I said, I like this game, but seeing as how I just got stuck again (dealing with an annoying launch pad level to make things worse), I guess it's going right back onto the shelf to collect some more dust.

Its fun for the first hour or so. Gets way too complicated too early on and not enough example code or functions to help you with it. I'm a dev with 10 years of experience too and was looking for fun coding challenges. I don't recommend this.

💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚 From a pure hobby-coder owning & playing lots of coding-games,: This game is VASTLY UNDERRATED! It has: - Real Code - Real Coding-Problems - Very good instructions - Intelli-Sense & Auto-Complete in the IDE - Nice Visuals - NICE Soundtrack Most [i]other[/i] coding-games: - Use Pseudo-Code (meaning you learn a bogus-language with no benefit to you) - Use "artificial" problems fitting the theme of the game, rather than forcing you to think logically - Lacking or too complex documentation - Have the bare minimum of visuals, hardly a UI and are unpleasant to look at in general [i]This game is a true gem in every regard, I highly recommend it![/i] It's easier if you know how to code, but the tutorials and explanations are all there if you're new to coding. My personal Pro's for the game: - The Syntax is clean. REALLY clean. I love it - The UI is also clean. There is no clutter, but everything you need is there - Tutorials & Docs are complete: Deep enough to get the gist, but short enough to not bore anybody This game hits the mark on all my personal "must-haves" for any coding-game. What an absolute 💎gem💎 - A big thank you to the Devs for making this!

ロボットにプログラムを与えて、ゴールに導くゲーム。こういう系統の中では(独自言語だが)実際にコードを書くという点が意外にも珍しい。 最初は、目の前にタイルがあるか判断する、直進する、左に向きを変える、とだけのシンプルな命令のみが用意されている。当然、目の前のタイルを判断して直進か向きを変えるか選ぶだけのシンプルなプログラムができあがる。 しかしステージを進めていくと、「周囲の安全なタイルの何数を得る命令」や、関数や配列の機能がアンロックされたりと、使える機能が増えていく。当然それにあわせて、「プレイヤー視点では安全かどうかわからない不明タイル」や、「安全なタイルの位置情報を持つ情報タイル」などのギミックが増えていく。 ステージの進行にあわせて様々な要素が追加されるマップに対して、ゴールにたどり着くためのアルゴリズムを練っていくことこそ、このゲームの本質だ。 命令のリファレンスが英語のみで、実際のコーディングを求められる点敷居の高さはあるかもしれないが、そもそもこんなゲームに興味を持つのはプログラミング経験者だけだろう。逆に経験者からすると、まどろっこしい抽象化がされず、直にコーディングできるというところに魅力を感じるはずだ。 一旦その視点に立つと、このゲーム、デバッグ機能がなかなか優秀なことに気づく。変数に格納されている値の移り変わりを確認できたり、タイルIDが格納されている変数名や配列名がタイルに表示されたりするのが便利だ。 これだけ聞くと迷路を解くだけの比較的単純なプログラムで済みそうだと思うかもしれないが、このゲームはなかなかよくできている。 ステージを進めていくと、「右外壁に沿って動くだけではたどり着けないような、ループの中心にゴールがあるマップ」が出てきたり、「タイルが三角形なのに対して、隣接上下左右の四方向で安全タイルの情報を与えるタイル」が出てくるなど、一筋縄では行かないところが出てくる。それに対処するためにいちいち頭をひねることになる。 タイル判断や移動に対して思考系の命令は実行時間が短いため、最速アルゴリズムを模索する楽しみもあるが、リーダブルコードの視点に立って、高速かつ簡潔でわかりやすいプログラムを書くよい練習にもなるはずだ。 ある程度進行すると、実際に使われている探索アルゴリズムに近いものを書くことが求められることに気づくと思う。探索アルゴリズムに限った内容だが、プログラミングの楽しさはアルゴリズムを練ることにある、と思う人には間違いなくおすすめできる。 トレイラーからはその辺りが伝わりづらいというのが難点だが、(人を選ぶものの)間違いなくよい作品だ。 [quote] 同ジャンルの作品を、Steamキュレーター [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/37758265/]Programmin Puzzle Fan (JP)[/url] にて 紹介しています。興味がある方はぜひフォローしてみてください。 [/quote]

This is a hard game, on par with TIS-100, Human Resources Machine 2, and Shenzhen I/O. However, it is hard in a [i]different[/i] way from those other games: it poses difficult problems that demand clever algorithms rather than limiting the number of instructions that you can use (TIS-100 and Shenzhen I/O) or having to deal with parallel processing (all three). So you may like this game even if you found the other three frustrating. On the other hand, if you found those games to be at the right level of difficulty, you may find this game too easy. As always, your mileage may vary. Unusual for programming games, this game provides a reasonably robust high level language -- something much closer to C / Pascal / Visual Basic than the assembly language used by most programming games. You have an unlimited number of instructions for your solution, you can declare functions and arrays, and there are no limits on the number of variables that you can declare. It doesn't have (or, at least, I haven't unlocked) more complex structures (C STRUCT or C# / Java classes), but you can't have everything... :) This is where I gave up on the game -- by personal inclination, I ended up designing a very robust framework of functions, global variables, and the like that could be shared between levels. However, this resulted in [i]very[/i] long programs (22 k in utility functions, 694 lines) and the built-in editor simply lacks the required functionality to make such large programs usable. Examples:[olist] [*]The built-in debugger allows you to single step execution and see what the current values of variables are -- but if the line where the variable was declared is visible. If that is 200 lines away from where the code is that uses that variable... [*]And each time you step the program, it automatically scrolls back to the instruction that was just executed. ... [*]When you abort execution of a running program, and you currently have line 200 visible, the scrolling "jumps" by a few lines -- only 2 or 3 lines, but enough to cause you to lose track of what you were about to edit. [*]Finally, in the last chapter, the editing space available is reduced by one half (you have to write [i]two[/i] programs, each controlling a different character).[/olist] The combination of all of the above pushed the frustration quotient over the fun quotient for me, so I've stopped playing. On the other hand, I enjoyed it for 40 hours before that, so I certainly got my money's worth, and based on the histograms that show at the end of the levels, the vast majority of players [i]don't[/i] write massive toolkits to solve the levels, so I don't think my experience is representative of the typical player. TL;DR A good, if flawed under extreme cases, programming game. Well worth your money.

⢸⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⡷⡄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⢸⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⡇⠢⣀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⢸⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⡇⠀⠀⠈⠑⢦⡀⠀⠀⠀Are You codding, Son? ⢸⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⠖⠒⠒⠒⢤⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠙⢦⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⢸⠀⠀⣀⢤⣼⣀⡠⠤⠤⠼⠤⡄⠀ ⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠙⢄⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⢸⠀⠀⠑⡤⠤⡒⠒⠒⡊⠙⡏⠀⢀⠀⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠑⠢⠀ ⢸⠀⠀⠀⠇⠀⣀⣀⣀⣀⢀⠧⠟⠁⠀⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⡇⠀ ⢸⠀⠀⠀⠸⣀⠀⠀⠈⢉⠟⠓⠀⠀⠀ ⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸ ⢸⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⢱⡖⠋⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸ ⢸⠀⠀⠀⠀⣠⢺⠧⢄⣀⠀⠀⣀⣀⠀⠀⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸ ⢸⠀⠀⠀⣠⠃⢸⠀⠀⠈⠉⡽⠿⠯⡆⠀⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸ ⢸⠀⠀⣰⠁⠀⢸⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠉⠉⠀⠀ ⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸ ⢸⠀⠀⠣⠀⠀⢸⢄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⢸ ⢸⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⠀⢇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⢸ ⢸⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⡌⠀⠈⡆⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⢸ ⢸⠀⠀⠀⠀⢠⠃⠀⠀⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⢸ ⢸⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⠀⠀⠀⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠷

This is a fantastic and challenging programming game that remains sadly underrated. Based on figures from the author and achievement percentages, about 80 of us on got to use the probe and about 45 beat the game. Only about 20 beat Robo Pinball (I haven't yet, it's *hard*). Can you get your salvage bot down to the bottom? Few have. Robo Instructus combines robot navigation puzzles with a very realistic scripting language in novel, interesting ways. Moving on triangles puts an interesting spin on the old step and turn system. Using sensors to detect surroundings and programmatic minesweeper-esque logic forces you to write real logic functions to get through. The probe later in the game adds parallelism and communication between two unique bots. It's lovely, the learning curve is certainly high, but you are really programming for realzies. Finally, if you are still reading, then perhaps you care that it's an incredibly stable cross-platform game written in Rust by a solo developer. I did, and I'm glad I did or I might have missed this game like many others seem to have.

My brother gifted me this game to introduce me to programming. As a person who has never been into programming this game is hard. I still am far away from finishing it but completing every level just feels so good. I am stuck so haven't played in a while but do recommend this game

robo_forward() actually means going circular-right. robo_left() causes the robot to go forward/right briefly, then suddenly snap and go the other way to the left. Both of these things can be clearly seen in the first part of the trailer, too. It's only the first level but it's already this messy. These issues could easily be fixed by polishing up the robot movement and renaming robo_forward() as robo_step() or robo_advance() to avoid confusion. But I guess not. Writing code is my day job yet somehow this was too confusing and annoying for me. I'm sure the game is probably great if you could deal with how clunky it is at its very core, but I couldn't.

Really well done game, programming a little robot around, it's amazing to test how far a set of simple rules can lead him. Although it's very good for programming practice, I think that it's not specifically for developers actually, because the first levels would feel limiting with only the beginning of a language. The logic expands nicely as time goes, it feels demanding but not overwhelmingly so. There are gotchas for every level, the title is often a good hint. Everything is clean, polished, you can play this on battery for hours, not a glitch in sight, refreshing in an age of half baked releases,