Adam R. Wood ([info]zotmeister) wrote,
@ 2007-08-16 22:34:00
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Current music:"East Bound and Down", Jerry Reed

Off my arse

Hi. I'm Zotmeister. Remember me? You know, that puzzle guy with the games and the tales and the occasional burst of clever cynicism? Yeah. Well, I'm officially off my arse. All those puzzle answers you've sent me that I haven't responded to yet? Coming up. My turn in SMAC? In the next twenty-four hours. More puzzles? Already built and awaiting queueing. More Twenty/Zero? Half-written. More sorcerers? Services secured. My every-other-week-turned-into-every-other-month posting rate? Try every other day. I have not abandoned this journal. Quite the opposite, in fact: it's permanent now. I might even make the occasional voice post, just because I can. I'm going to make it worth my money, and if you stick around I'll hopefully make it worth your time. - ZM


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[info]lardarsegreg
2007-08-17 06:15 am UTC (link)
Welcome back.

Quick question, though: How long does it take you to do the "pixel art" for your puzzles?

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[info]zotmeister
2007-08-17 12:30 pm UTC (link)
That's a good question. I've never timed myself, actually, but I do know that it varies greatly based on the type and size of the grid, how many givens there are, and how much cut-and-paste I can get away with. Over time I've built a number of templates - blank grids, alphabet - that help speed things up.

After I complete the graphic, I upload it and then re-solve it to make sure the final result is correct (I do my own QA), and then I write the article (which can take anywhere from a couple minutes to two hours or more, based on whether I've done one of that type before or not). Best guess: from nothing digital to published here, it takes about twenty minutes for a new instance of a simple design like Smullyanic Dynasty, and three hours to introduce a new complex design like Seeking Syren. Puzzle 49 will be the former; I'll clock myself. - ZM

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[info]dioderm
2007-08-17 03:38 pm UTC (link)

Welcome back!

I was feeling guilty for not attempting your last puzzle in an attempt to encourage you to post more. Unfortunately at the time I was in various other places so I was networked-challenged and thus didn't have the time, place, or even computer to print out your puzzle and solve it (normally I don't print them out anyway). But on top of that, I didn't even post!

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(Anonymous)
2007-08-18 04:41 am UTC (link)
Welcome back! I was running out of previous puzzles on your site to solve. (Yes, I've solved them, even if I didn't send them in... your puzzles tend to be self-verifying, so it's not like I need to check the solutions like I might with a crossword or something.)

- Ian / Gannon

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