Code of the Rings - Optimization - Puzzle discussion

[ReMoD1]

I'm currently 712th using a very simple approach: look for the closest rune (in terms of '<' and '>') whose letter would require the minimun steps to reach the desired letter.

I've only used loops to reset runes and move from 'blank' if it's "cheaper" than moving from an existing letter.

Doing this, I can just look at a single input character at the time.

I understand that I won't be able to reach the top spots just but doing this, but I'm curious if anyone used a similar strategy and did better than 712th.

Anyone?

[_CG_SaiksyApo]

Sometimes, it faster to use a reset loop, did you take that into account already?

[ReMoD1]

Yes, if the distance from 'blank' is less than the distance from the other existing letters.

For example: I print 'F' with "[+]+++++." but if there's if there's a 'G' two runes away I use ">>-.".

Did you have other loop usage in mind?

I believe I can improve looking more input characters ahead but I wanted to be sure I got as far as I could with this simple approach.

I'm also considering optimizing the output (which seems promising) but I need to find a simple solution for not destroying the state.

[_CG_SaiksyApo]

Yeah, I was talking about the [+] loop.

Next tip: Try several board initialisation and output the better one. E.G. Initializing the whole board to M, may be a good idea in some cases.

[ReMoD1]

Yep. I will need to find a criteria to determine that the cost of "non zero" initialization will be offset by the savings of having some letter "already on the board". Probably the frequency of each character plays a role here.