brian_s
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 587
Registered: 05-27-2004
IP: Logged

The basic idea of this contest is many people will play a game of Mastermind simultaneously, trying to guess the same combination. Full rules are as follows:

- I will not play, instead I am the moderator.
- The combination will be a string of letters A-Z
- The length of the combination will be equal to the number of players.
- The number of possible characters will be 1.5 times the number of players. For example if 6 people are playing then there will be 9 possible characters A-I.
- Five players is the minimum.
- At the beginning of the game I will send each player a PM stating one of the characters in the combination.
- Each round will consist of all the players sending me a PM of their guess. After the deadline I will post a summary of guesses and the next round will begin.

I am making a signup deadline of April 14th. On April 15th the contest will begin.

Signup is closed, the game is now underway.

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[Last edited by brian_s at 04-15-2013 04:56 PM]

Someone Else
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1304
Registered: 06-14-2005
IP: Logged

I like it. I'm in.

TripleM
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1373
Registered: 02-05-2003
IP: Logged

Same here.

RoboBob3000
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1978
Registered: 10-23-2003
IP: Logged

Yup yup yup. One, please.

brian_s wrote: After the deadline I will post a summary of guesses and the next round will begin.

What will be included in this summary? Both the guess and the responses?

____________________________
http://beepsandbloops.wordpress.com/

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[Last edited by RoboBob3000 at 04-08-2013 12:54 AM]

Godot23
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 114
Registered: 02-28-2013
IP: Logged

Count me in! Sounds like fun!

____________________________
Roses are red
Violets are red
Everything is red
My house is on fire

Chaco
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3626
Registered: 10-06-2005
IP: Logged

Count me in too, this sounds pretty interesting. The fact that there's hidden information should make this better than just a straightforward game, where it's just a matter of optimally pruning the search space.

____________________________
Quick links to my stuff (in case you forgot where it was):

blorx1
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 920
Registered: 07-18-2009
IP: Logged

I'll play.

____________________________
If you need to think outside of the box, then you didn't build a good enough box.

The spitemaster
Level: Smiter
Rank Points: 354
Registered: 06-09-2005
IP: Logged

I'm in. Can you elaborate on the rules of mastermind? And then how you are changing it for multiplayers.

____________________________
Last night upon a stair
I met a man that wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
I wish that man would stay away

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[Last edited by The spitemaster at 04-08-2013 05:45 AM]

Maurog
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1501
Registered: 09-16-2004
IP: Logged

I will play I guess, but if everything is hidden, what will the spectators see?

____________________________
Slay the living! Raise the dead!
Paint the sky in crimson red!

brian_s
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 587
Registered: 05-27-2004
IP: Logged

File: Sample.JPG (26.3 KB)
Downloaded 72 times.
License: Public Domain

I have attached an example of results for a round of play for five players trying to guess the code ACEGA. The guesses displayed are guesses made by each player for the current round of play.

I will make a larger table for this game and provide a results screenshot like this example following each round of play.

Chaco
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3626
Registered: 10-06-2005
IP: Logged

Yeah, that's about what I expected. Everyone's guesses become public at the end of a round.

The tricky part is that "each player gets a PM with one of the characters in the combination". This means you have to pay close attention to other people's guesses, in an attempt to derive their strategy. With enough guesswork, you might even be able to figure out what they were told in their PM, based upon what their guessing strategy is.

We have a particularly long string to guess - it could have as many as 15 to 30 characters in it - so there's going to be a long history of guesses to examine.

Of course, you can only write a computer program to help you once you know what you're looking for

____________________________
Quick links to my stuff (in case you forgot where it was):

da rogu3
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 491
Registered: 04-06-2011
IP: Logged

I'll play.

brian_s
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 587
Registered: 05-27-2004
IP: Logged

We have nine players for this game. The code is 9 letters long and is composed of letters in the range A-N. I have sent everyone their PMs with two clues, one is a letter in the code and the other is a letter not in the code.

The deadline for guess submissions will be 11:00 AM April 17th

TripleM
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1373
Registered: 02-05-2003
IP: Logged

Can you put that in an untiltime tag? Not sure what timezone you're using.

brian_s
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 587
Registered: 05-27-2004
IP: Logged

File: Round 1.JPG (47.8 KB)
Downloaded 70 times.
License: Public Domain

Round 1 results attached. Round 2 deadline is April 19th 11:00 AM CDT. Time left: negative 574 weeks, 6 days

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[Last edited by brian_s at 04-17-2013 06:18 PM]

brian_s
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 587
Registered: 05-27-2004
IP: Logged

Between a busy day for me and the fact that only half the players have responded this round, I'm extending the deadline to tomorrow at 11:00AM. You now have negative 574 weeks, 5 days left.

brian_s
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 587
Registered: 05-27-2004
IP: Logged

File: Round 2.JPG (48.4 KB)
Downloaded 62 times.
License: Public Domain

Round 2 results attached. Round 3 might be the last round. You have until 11:00am Monday to get your guesses in, that is negative 574 weeks, 3 days from now.

brian_s
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 587
Registered: 05-27-2004
IP: Logged

Done already! Someone Else, TripleM, RoboBob3000, blorx1, and da rogu3 all determined the correct code KEAHNFBGM.

Chaco
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3626
Registered: 10-06-2005
IP: Logged

Sorry I didn't participate in rounds 2 and 3. Some unexpected real-life stuff came up and I didn't have time to properly attend to this.

I'm glad to see you guys all managed to guess the code by round 3 even though four of us didn't give you information during round 2.

____________________________
Quick links to my stuff (in case you forgot where it was):

RoboBob3000
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1978
Registered: 10-23-2003
IP: Logged

The main reason it was solved by Round 3 was that there was so much information given out at once.

Was anybody else trying to get ahead by asking others for their data? I asked everybody in the game for their information, and four people responded with their correct information. If I were smart I would have not made a guess in Round 2 (or a more informative guess in round 1), but I made the assumption that after round 2 there would be enough information for everybody to get the solve, and took a stab at a valid guess.

____________________________
http://beepsandbloops.wordpress.com/

Someone Else
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1304
Registered: 06-14-2005
IP: Logged

Heh, I should have suspected something. But I had it down to something like 14 possibilities, so I also took a stab at it. Also, I think it might have been better if there was at least one duplicate - harder to guess that way.

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[Last edited by Someone Else at 04-22-2013 06:56 PM]

Schik
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5383
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

Boston RoboBob3000 said:
Was anybody else trying to get ahead by asking others for their data? I asked everybody in the game for their information, and four people responded with their correct information. If I were smart I would have not made a guess in Round 2 (or a more informative guess in round 1), but I made the assumption that after round 2 there would be enough information for everybody to get the solve, and took a stab at a valid guess.

Note to self: Never trust RoboBob in a multiplayer game.

____________________________
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals.
--Mahatma Gandhi